Our guest speakers at the dinner meeting on 17 May 2022 provided an insight into the history, current status and future plans for the Gardeners Creek catchment. Dr Gary Presland, archaeologist, historian and author spoke about the history of the "Creek" and Graham Ross, former Director with an International Commercial Real Estate Company and now a student and advocate of Conservation and Land Management, spoke about the formation of the KooyongKoot Alliance and future plans
Gardiners Creek was originally known as Kooyongkoot Creek and is the waterway in the eastern
suburbs of Melbourne and part of the Yarra River catchment. The Creek was named after John Gardiner, an early farming settler. Gary showed photographs from the past and spoke about the 18 floods that have occurred between 1891 and 2018 - with 4 between 1891 and 1965 and 14 between 1966 and 2018. The severity and intensity of these flood events has increased over time due to more paving and stronger runoff in the catchment areas.
Graham formed the KooyongKoot Alliance in 2020, which includes over 20 Friends' groups from the Gardiners Creek catchment and local Councils. The City of Stonnington has initiated the development of a masterplan for the Gardiners Creek corridor, which includes community access and connectivity, water catchment, open recreational space, biodiversity and cultural values.
For more information on the history and the masterplan click on the following link: https://www.stonnington.vic.gov.au/About/Corporate-documents/Strategies-and-plans/Gardiners-Creek-KooyongKoot-Masterplan