Junortoun Community Action Group to study Splitters Creek

The group has received $8000 from North Central Catchment Management Authority which it will use to hire an ecologist to assess Splitters Creek's health, habitats and vegetation.

Action group deputy president Ian Stephens said the waterway was significant due to its stormwater mitigation and the increased population of Junortoun.

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Junortoun's population has increased from 2378 people in 2011 to 3862 people in 2021, with housing expected to become higher in density.

Mr Stephens said Splitters Creek needed to be valued as a creek line with valuable vegetation and a significant ecosystem value, not as an expedient drain where vegetation is cleared.

"The improvements that would be significant for the creek would be to provide a habitat for the local flora and fauna, which means making sure that with all of the stormwater and the other uses of the creek it is not inhibiting the flora and fauna," Mr Stephens said.

"That's having trees, having plants that are productive for the natural environment and being able to mitigate all of the inflows and nutrients, chemicals and weeds."

Splitters Creek is about six kilometres long, running west to east next to the McIvor Highway and extends on to Axe Creek at Longlea.

It provides habitat for birds, frogs, insects and other fauna and serves as a corridor for animals moving between Axe Creek and the Bendigo Regional National Park.

According to the action group, the status of the creek has not been documented before.

Mr Stephens said letters had been delivered to landowners residing along the creek to try and encourage them to protect their section of the waterway.

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While the management practices of landowners were yet to be determined, he said there were practical ways to improve the creek, including by placing nesting boxes, allowing natural logs and trees to form part of the creek, and eradicating noxious weeds.

During heavy rain periods, such as last year's flood event, all of Splitters Creek was "impassable", which Mr Stephens said highlighted "its value is to Junortoun in terms of flood water mitigation."

The Junortoun Community Action Group is hosting an information session at the Bendigo Baptist Church on Thursday, October 12 from 6.45pm.

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