Concerned Lilydale residents have voiced frustration over what they say is a lack of maintenance of the Olinda Creek in its urban setting.
Although not wishing to be named, the couple who spoke to Star Mail have called Lilydale their home all their lives, remembering a time when the Beresford Road end of Olinda Creek was deep and wide enough to swim in.
Now as the creek reaches the overpass of Beresford Road, a mass of reeds and debris has grown leaving just a narrow stream of flowing water.
“People of today think this is what it was always like but it wasn’t. Back then it was about two and a half metres deep. It was a beautiful, running creek.”
The couple said seeing the creek become so overgrown and narrow “breaks (their) heart” having seen it in full glory, with fish in abundance, when they were children enjoying the natural reserve close to home some 70 years ago.
“When you allow the creek to run over rocks it’s good. It agitates it, but if you’ve got tree branches that are falling over and you start to get a bank up of plastic bags, twigs, leaves, and all the rest of it, then the soil starts to bank up and of course, the creek, instead of being wide and deep, it becomes small and narrow.”
While the lack of water flow because of the overgrowth is of major concern, for both the health of the river and the species that rely on it, the couple said the risk of flooding was also worrying because there’s nowhere for excess water to go.
“Never in my lifetime, and I was born in Lilydale and I’m 76, he’s 80, has Beresford Road been flooded until this year.”
The Lilydale Flood Watch group recorded on 12 January, when thunderstorms were predicted for the region, that Beresford Road near Fire and Clay flooded.
Bureau of Meteorology data from 12 and 13 January indicates that a combined total of 31.4mm of rain fell.
“When I was a kid, we used to get flooded with heavy rainfall so they put in (Lillydale) Lake to prevent that. It has prevented it for a while, but eventually it’s going to get to the stage where it’s going to start flooding again.
“People thought, ‘Oh, well, so the lake didn’t really work’. Well, it did. What’s happening is the creek is filling up.”
The issue of fallen tree branches, rubbish and debris build up has also been identified upstream towards the Lilydale Recreation Reserve, with larger items getting caught under the pedestrian bridges and creating a natural dam-like structure.
In April, a resident of Chapel Street posted to the Lilydale Flood Watch group identifying a large amount of rubbish strewn into the water and that “the actual flow of the creek has been blocked by a dam erected out of saplings and branches”.
For the last 12 months the couple have been seeking action from Melbourne Water, the responsible authority for the waterway as an offshoot of the Yarra River, but said they were often shutdown or that the problem was being passed from person to person.
In response to a range of questions put to Melbourne Water about the overgrowth near Beresford Road, flood risk, vegetation and maintenance of the creek, a spokesperson reassured Star Mail that vegetation maintenance works were underway.
“Melbourne Water is actively managing vegetation in Olinda Creek, including near Beresford Road, to ensure the waterway remains healthy and flowing,” they said.
“While some native vegetation plays a positive role in improving water quality, we recognise community concerns and have already scheduled works in this area.”
These works are said to be targeting invasive species between Maroondah Highway and Beresford Road, which should be completed by the end of July.
Growth near Beresford Road, the spokesperson said, does include native Phragmites australis, which supports water quality, but Melbourne Water’s website states that some of the most common weeds found across its waterways include blackberries, arum lily, honeysuckle, prickly pear and larger wood weeds such as pittosporum, willows, ivy, desert ash and inkweed.
The site has also been identified for Melbourne Water’s Channel Desilt Works Program after 12 months of monitoring, which has seen similar works carried out along the Lilydale Drain pipeline.
As part of the Healthy Waterways Strategy, Melbourne Water has targets it must meet in the categories for vegetation extent and quality, water quality and litter absence.
One way Melbourne Water said it is trying to achieve this is through the planting of 25,000 indigenous plants across Olinda Creek to improve bank stability, biodiversity and habitat.
“We’ll continue working closely with residents to support both ecological health and flood resilience along the creek,” the spokesperson said.
The Lilydale residents, now in their seventies and eighties, said urging Melbourne Water to act was not for them but for the future generations who should get to enjoy the natural beauty of the Olinda Creek in Lilydale.
