Channel Reserve

This site was so overgrown with weeds that the only access was via a culvert running beneath the Coliban Main channel. Discussions with the land manager Coliban Water in 2011 led to a successful Landcare Grant application in 2013 and Malmsbury Landcare embarked on its second major wasteland rehabilitation project (following on from initial works on the adjacent Malmsbury Common). It was a true smorgasbord of weeds with Willows, Hawthorn, Gorse, Broom, Blackberry, Patterson’s Curse, St John’s Wort, Sweet Briar and Thistles all running rampant with just a few native plants holding on here or there. Once the initial weed removal was done a maintenance program of follow up weed control and regular slashing of grassy areas was agreed with Coliban Water. Step slopes on the site were fenced off and the creek banks and selected other locations within the reserve were planted out in 2017 using seed collected by group members from local volcanic soil based remnants. The next stage is to prepare and install signage that identifies the site entrance and historical features now uncovered that show the early workings required for the first channel from Malmsbury Reservoir to the Bendigo Goldfields.