Station to be partially demolished

March, 2012 Demolition of old ramp and stairs

Since 2010 a group of dedicated volunteers have established a beautiful garden at the station. We would like to see the garden protected, whether the station building is replaced with a new one or the existing historic building saved. The decision to demolish the station building this month seems very rushed.We knew that eventually further construction would have to happen at the station but hoped the props would hold the old building up for many years. We would not have continued to plant and maintain a garden under and around the station building if we had been told that demolition of the station was planned for 2014. We are still very much in the dark. Will there be enough time to save the plants that can be shifted? How much access will the demolition contractor's need? How much of the garden will be destroyed during the demolition? How long will the Stationeer's garden be inaccessible to us? Will there be a landscape plan included in the redevelopment ?

Last time anything like this happened in March 2012, the Stationeers were not given any prior notice. We held a working bee the week before and planted under the station ramp. On the following Saturday morning the ramp and station stairs were demolished. Only one original plant remained under the station and heavy machinery had driven over other parts of our recently planted garden to gain access to demolition of the ramp. We started again from scratch. Now the garden is only a year away from reaching its full potential. We hope most of it can be saved and that any works done at the station are sensitive to both the history of Flemington and the adjacent garden.

Ros Nataprawira

Smiling Stationeers after one of our monthly working bees in 2013

Ideas for landscaping the seated area

Ideas to inspire us to plan a new seating area at Newmarket Station. More photos to come. Email me any photos you would like to contribute to the discussion and I will post them on the blog.
Ros

Warrandyte Uniting Church Peace Garden birdbath. Designer: Bev Hansen

Recycled timber table and seats. Hansen garden, Warrandyte.

 Basalt boulder birdbath

Californian conversation pit

Working Bee April 28th, 2014

Despite short notice, seven volunteers turned up at the April working bee. We had a very productive morning, mainly planting salt bushes under the peppercorn, clearing masses of litter, plus watering- then it rained for the next 24 hours; perfect timing. The Poa grasses pruned seven weeks ago have all grown back, rejuvenated and green; we obviously chose the right time of year to prune them.   

There is scope to inter-plant the lower embankment with summer-flowering indigenous perennials. Ordering plants: native bluebells and yellow and white daisies this week for a late winter/spring planting. 

Correa "Granny's Grave"

working bee invitation

Area needing landscaping

There will be a working bee on Monday, April 28th at 9:30 am. April has been a disrupted month, with the East West Link Public Hearings & Easter. This will be the first working bee for nearly seven weeks. We are focusing our planting at the Peppercorn tree end. Meet at the seats pictured. Bring gloves, hand tool and a bucket. It's hard to establish plants in this area because it is both shady and very dry. The peppercorn leaves also seem to contain a chemical that suppresses other plants however experiments with several plants are showing promising results and I have struck some cuttings of those that have worked best. 
There is construction work that needs to be done around the seating area for which we will need to employ a professional. Does anyone know a local builder or landscaper? The plan is to renovate the existing seats rather than demolish and replace them and possibly incorporate the collapsed timber into a retaining edge of a planter box for which we will import some good quality composted soil to plant up with attractive shade-loving foliage plants.
Ros

Attention to the area around the broken seating.

the first flowers have appeared on one of the Euky Dwarf trees Ian planted in 2011.

At last some good overnight rain has fallen on the Newmarket Station garden. Our next working bee will be concentrated on the area around and above the old seating where it is very difficult to establish plants in dry shade.We examined the seating carefully last working bee and came to the conclusion that we could keep the two intact seats and use the central portion to form part of a planter retaining wall. Metro Trains may be able to help us improve this area.In the following weeks I will post some ideas for you to think about regarding how to achieve something beautiful in this area incorporating suggestions made on how to best utilize our Grant. Please post your comments and suggestions.

Retain seas at either end and build planter behind.

Tuesday March 11th Working Bee Report

Seven Stationeers attended along with a thousand stranded commuters after a signal failure down the line. We were lucky with the weather and achieved what we set out to do, namely prune the Tussock Grasses and Creeping Boobialla, plant 14 new tough ground covers, water and clean away the extensive litter- all over by 11:00 am. Well done all!

Tussock Grass given short back and sides by Jennie

Newest Stationeer, Margaret

Thomas, multitasking

Study in Orange

Stranded rail passenger about to meet a Good Samaritan called Ginny

reminder: working bee tomorrow

Working Bee tomorrow, Tuesday March 11th.

Meet at the tap in Pin Oak Crescent. at 9:30 am.

Bring gardening gloves, water bottle, hat and trowel as well as secateurs if you have them. All welcome. Just turn up and sign on to join.

Ros Nataprawira