Moonee Ponds Creek - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Moonee Ponds Creek is a creek

Stream

A stream is a body of water with a current, confined within a bed and stream banks. Depending on its locale or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to as a branch, brook, beck, burn, creek, "crick", gill , kill, lick, rill, river, syke, bayou, rivulet, streamage, wash, run or...

and major tributary

Tributary

A tributary or affluent is a stream or river that flows into a main stem river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean...

of the Yarra River

Yarra River

The Yarra River, originally Birrarung, is a river in east-central Victoria, Australia. The lower stretches of the river is where the city of Melbourne was established in 1835 and today Greater Melbourne dominates and influences the landscape of its lower reaches...

running through urban

Urban area

An urban area is characterized by higher population density and vast human features in comparison to areas surrounding it. Urban areas may be cities, towns or conurbations, but the term is not commonly extended to rural settlements such as villages and hamlets.Urban areas are created and further...

Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

, Victoria, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

from northern to inner suburbs. In 2004 a reporter for the Age newspaper described it as "arguably the most abused tributary of the Yarra River

Yarra River

, and part of the true underside of Melbourne".

It is rural in its upper sections near Greenvale

Greenvale, Victoria

Greenvale is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 20 km north from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Hume...

, passing across basalt plains around Woodlands Historic Park, just north of Melbourne Airport

Melbourne Airport

Melbourne Airport , also known as Tullamarine Airport, is the primary airport serving the city of Melbourne and the second busiest in Australia. It was opened in 1970 to replace the nearby Essendon Airport. Melbourne Airport is the sole international airport of the four airports serving the...

. Towards its mouth it is hemmed in by the Tertiary

Tertiary

The Tertiary is a deprecated term for a geologic period 65 million to 2.6 million years ago. The Tertiary covered the time span between the superseded Secondary period and the Quaternary...

caps of Essendon

Essendon, Victoria

Essendon is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 10 km north-west from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Moonee Valley...

and Royal Park

Royal Park, Melbourne

Royal Park is the largest of Melbourne's inner city parks . It is located north of the Melbourne Central Business District, Victoria, Australia, in the suburb of Parkville....

before joining the Yarra River

Yarra River

.

Through the heavily urbanised areas it flows through it is best characterised as a concrete stormwater drain

Storm drain

A storm drain, storm sewer , stormwater drain or drainage well system or simply a drain or drain system is designed to drain excess rain and ground water from paved streets, parking lots, sidewalks, and roofs. Storm drains vary in design from small residential dry wells to large municipal systems...

.

It winds its way through the suburbs of Westmeadows

Westmeadows, Victoria

Westmeadows is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 17 km north from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Hume. At the 2006 Census, Westmeadows had a population of 5,857....

, Meadow Heights

Meadow Heights, Victoria

Meadow Heights is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 18 km north from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Hume...

, Tullamarine

Tullamarine, Victoria

Tullamarine is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 17 km north-west from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area are the Cities of Hume, Brimbank and Moreland. At the 2006 Census, Tullamarine had a population of 6,541....

, Broadmeadows

Broadmeadows, Victoria

Broadmeadows is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 16 km north from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Hume...

, Gowanbrae

Gowanbrae, Victoria

Gowanbrae is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 13 km north-west from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Moreland...

, Glenroy

Glenroy, Victoria

Glenroy is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 13 km north from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Moreland...

, Strathmore Heights

Strathmore Heights, Victoria

Strathmore Heights is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 14 km north-west from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Moonee Valley...

, Oak Park

Oak Park, Victoria

Oak Park is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 11 km north of Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Moreland...

, Strathmore

Strathmore, Victoria

Strathmore is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 11 km north-west from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Moonee Valley...

, Pascoe Vale

Pascoe Vale, Victoria

Pascoe Vale is a western suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 10 km north from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Moreland. At the 2006 Census, Pascoe Vale had a population of 13,558.- History :...

, Pascoe Vale South

Pascoe Vale South, Victoria

Pascoe Vale South is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 9 km north from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Moreland...

, Essendon

Essendon, Victoria

Essendon is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 10 km north-west from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Moonee Valley...

, Brunswick West

Brunswick West, Victoria

Brunswick West is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 6 km north from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Moreland...

, Moonee Ponds

Moonee Ponds, Victoria

Moonee Ponds is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 7 km north-west from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Moonee Valley.It is home to Queens Park and the Moonee Valley Racecourse...

, Ascot Vale

Ascot Vale, Victoria

Ascot Vale is a suburb 7 km north-west of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Its Local Government Area is the City of Moonee Valley. At the 2006 Census, Ascot Vale had a population of 12,398....

, Flemington

Flemington, Victoria

Flemington is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, situated between the Maribyrnong River and Moonee Ponds Creek 4 km north-west from Melbourne's central business district. It was named by settler James Watson after Flemington estate in Scotland. Its Local Government Areas are the...

, Parkville

Parkville, Victoria

Parkville is an inner city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km north from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Melbourne. At the 2006 Census, the population was 4,980....

, North Melbourne

North Melbourne, Victoria

North Melbourne is a large inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 2 km north-west from Melbourne's central business district. It is bounded by the CityLink freeway to the west, Victoria Street to the south, O'Connell and Peel Streets to the east and Flemington Road to the north. Its...

(where its artificially widened section is named Railway Canal) before joining the Yarra River

Yarra River

at Melbourne Docklands

Melbourne Docklands

Docklands is an inner city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia occupying an area extending up to 2 km west of and adjacent to Melbourne's Central Business District . Its Local Government Area is the City of Melbourne...

History

Before European

European ethnic groups

The ethnic groups in Europe are the various ethnic groups that reside in the nations of Europe. European ethnology is the field of anthropology focusing on Europe....

settlement, the Moonee Ponds Creek was the home of the Wurundjeri

Wurundjeri

The Wurundjeri are a people of the Indigenous Australian nation of the Woiwurrung language group, in the Kulin alliance, who occupy the Birrarung Valley, its tributaries and the present location of Melbourne, Australia...

People of the Kulin

Kulin

The Kulin nation, was an alliance of five Indigenous Australian nations in Central Victoria, Australia, prior to European settlement. Their collective territory extended to around Port Phillip and Western Port, up into the Great Dividing Range and the Loddon and Goulburn River valleys. To their...

nation.Though there are no written records it is probable that the creek takes its name from an indigenous

Indigenous Australians

Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....

inhabitant Moonee Moonee, who, along with Tullamareena

Tullamareena

Tullamareena was a senior man of the Wurundjeri, a Koori, people of the Melbourne area, at the time of the British settlement in Victoria, Australia, in 1835. He is believed to be present at the signing of John Batman's land deal in 1835. He was known to be a resistor to British occupation of...

, burnt down and escaped from the first Melbourne gaol in 1838. The Port Phillip

Port Phillip

Port Phillip Port Phillip Port Phillip (also commonly referred to as Port Phillip Bay or (locally) just The Bay, is a large bay in southern Victoria, Australia; it is the location of Melbourne. Geographically, the bay covers and the shore stretches roughly . Although it is extremely shallow for...

area was first settled by Europeans in 1835. The first land sales in the area of Strathmore

Strathmore, Victoria

Strathmore is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 11 km north-west from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Moonee Valley...

on Moonee Ponds Creek were made in 1843 and 1845.

The creek formed a series of marshy ponds on the floodplain

Floodplain

A floodplain, or flood plain, is a flat or nearly flat land adjacent a stream or river that stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls and experiences flooding during periods of high discharge...

, with extensive salt water marshes

Salt marsh

A salt marsh is an environment in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and salt water or brackish water, it is dominated by dense stands of halophytic plants such as herbs, grasses, or low shrubs. These plants are terrestrial in origin and are essential to the stability of the salt marsh...

near its entry to the Yarra river

Yarra River

known as Batman's lagoon. With rapid development of Melbourne due to the Victorian gold rush

Victorian gold rush

The Victorian gold rush was a period in the history of Victoria, Australia approximately between 1851 and the late 1860s. In 10 years the Australian population nearly tripled.- Overview :During this era Victoria dominated the world's gold output...

in the 1850s, the swamp quickly became a receptacle for waste waters from Flemington

Flemington, Victoria

, North Melbourne

North Melbourne, Victoria

and Parkville

Parkville, Victoria

.

In 1879 Batman lagoon was drained and filled to make way for the North Melbourne railway yards at its northern end. At its southern area, the filled in marshes were called Dudley Flats, where impoverished people scrounged building material from the land-fill tip to build shelters and huts during the 1930s depression.

In the 1890s the lower Moonee Ponds Creek was used as a canal

Canal

Canals are man-made channels for water. There are two types of canal:#Waterways: navigable transportation canals used for carrying ships and boats shipping goods and conveying people, further subdivided into two kinds:...

for barges carrying coal to the North Melbourne Locomotive Depot

North Melbourne Locomotive Depot

North Melbourne Locomotive Depot was the main location for maintenance of the Victorian Railways steam locomotive fleet based in Melbourne. Located in the middle of the Melbourne Yard precinct in the suburb West Melbourne near North Melbourne railway station, the site is now occupied by the...

.

In 1950s and 1960s the Melbourne Metropolitan Board of Works (now called Melbourne Water) realigned and concreted the creek from Strathmore to Flemington Road, in an attempt to stop periodical flooding. The modifications were part of extensive urban development of the lower floodplain. For much of its length through the northern suburbs it is now characterised as a concrete stormwater drain

Storm drain

that parallels the Tullamarine Freeway

Tullamarine Freeway

The Tullamarine Freeway is an urban freeway in Melbourne, Australia, linking Melbourne Airport to the central business district.-History:Tullamarine Freeway is one of the oldest freeways in Melbourne, originally constructed in 1968-1970...

.

In 1998 the Moonee Ponds Creek Co-ordination Committee Inc (MPCCC) was founded to oversee planning, restoration, education, and development of guidelines and policies aimed at protecting and enhancing the Creek and its tributaries. The MPCCC members are each of the four councils (Hume

City of Hume

The City of Hume is a Local Government Area located partially within the metropolitan area of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It includes outer north-western suburbs and a number of rural localities between 13 and 40 kilometres from the Melbourne city centre....

, Moreland

City of Moreland

The City of Moreland is a Local Government Area located within the metropolitan area of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It comprises the inner northern suburbs between 4 and 10 kilometres from the Melbourne city centre....

, Moonee Valley

City of Moonee Valley

The City of Moonee Valley is a Local Government Area located within the metropolitan area of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It comprises the north-western suburbs between 3 and 13 kilometres from the Melbourne city centre...

and Melbourne

City of Melbourne

The City of Melbourne is a Local Government Area in Victoria, Australia, located in the central city area of Melbourne. The city has an area of 36 square kilometres and has an estimated population of 93,105 people. The city's motto is "Vires acquirit eundo" which means "She gathers strength as she...

) and the Friends of Moonee Ponds Creek. MPCCC also has excellent working relationships with Melbourne Water, Parks Victoria, Department of Sustainability, Department of Primary Industries and Port Phillip and Westernport Catchment Management Authority.

In 2002 the downstream end of the creek was realigned, to accommodate development of Victoria Dock at the Port of Melbourne

Port of Melbourne

The Port of Melbourne is Australia's busiest port for containerised and general cargo. It is located in Melbourne, Victoria and covers an area at the mouth of the Yarra River, downstream of Bolte Bridge, which is at the head of Port Phillip, as well as several piers on the bay itself...

. Moving the confluence with the Yarra River about 600 metres upstream, the creek mouth once located at the east end of Appleton Dock was removed, with a new watercourse dug leading directly south parallel with the Bolte Bridge

Bolte Bridge

The Bolte Bridge is a large twin Cantilever bridge in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It spans the Yarra River and Victoria Harbour in the Docklands precinct to the west of the Melbourne CBD...

approach spans. The realignment created a buffer zone between the port and the Melbourne Docklands

Melbourne Docklands

residential and commercial areas. While realigning waterways is not a preferred option for Melbourne Water, the work was permitted as previous modifications had left the creek lacking a "true remaining 'natural' alignment" in the area.

Conservation

In recent years some improvement work has focused on enhancing habitat and stabilising, reshaping and replanting the banks of the creek. In 2005 the water quality, aquatic life and flow were all rated as poor; vegetation was rated as very poor; habitat and stability were rated as good.

During 2004 a major stormwater improvement program was embarked upon in the creek's catchment area, and wetlands at Jacana

Jacana, Victoria

Jacana is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 16 km north from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Hume...

and litter traps have been built. Recent habitat conservation work has resulted in some wildlife returning to the creek, including the Pobblebonk frog around the Strathmore

Strathmore, Victoria

Strathmore is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 11 km north-west from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Moonee Valley...

Secondary College, and the rare Nankeen Night Heron

Nankeen Night Heron

The Nankeen Night Heron, Nycticorax caledonicus, also commonly referred to as the Rufous Night Heron, and in Melanesia as Melabaob, is a medium-sized heron. It is found throughout much of Australia except the arid inland, Indonesia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea and Melanesia...

in the upper catchment.

Along the entire length of the Moonee Ponds Creek, starting at Melbourne Docklands and continuing to Woodlands Homestead within Woodlands Historic Park, a shared pathway the Moonee Ponds Creek Trail

Moonee Ponds Creek Trail

The Moonee Ponds Creek Trail is a shared use path for cyclists and pedestrians, which follows the Moonee Ponds Creek through the northern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.-Following the path:...

provides a recreational path for cyclists and walkers, connecting many reserves, park

Park

A park is a protected area, in its natural or semi-natural state, or planted, and set aside for human recreation and enjoyment, or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. It may consist of rocks, soil, water, flora and fauna and grass areas. Many parks are legally protected by...

s and sporting grounds along the creek.

External links

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