Bert Van Manen (Forde, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

The Albert Valley Wilderness Society and Cedar Creek State School have been working together to educate the community on how they can live an ecofriendly and sustainable life, and recently celebrated their third joint community eco-festival. The festival included workshops showing how to make biochar and more-effective food production and to live more sustainably, as well as a tour through their Australian cottage garden design, which incorporates perennial and annual herbaceous flowers with vegetables and berry bushes and an informal planting pattern to prevent pet and disease issues, as well as to ensure there is always something flowering all year round. Delicious coffee was available from Substation 33, a solar powered coffee van, and after a huge morning of learning throughout the school community I had a chance to refuel with a tasty wood-fried pizza made by school principal Mike Meier.

I was also able to check out the progress of the school with the Albert Valley Wilderness Society and the progress they've made on their Albert Valley restoration project. This community project was federally funded through the Communities Environment Program and has completed its first stage of removing invasive weeds from the river bank. They are now ready to plant their bank-stabilising plants, which will assist in reducing erosion on the river banks for years to come. Congratulations to the Albert Valley Wilderness Society and Cedar Creek State School for the terrific work they're doing to create a sustainable community.

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