A DEDICATED team of conservation volunteers have been left heartbroken after vandals tore through a newly planted section of the Balcombe Estuary Reserve in Mt Martha, destroying hours of revegetation work.
The incident, which was discovered on 30 September, saw dozens of young native plants, as well as protective stakes and guards pulled and strewn across in an area called Rabbit Paddock south of Ferrero Reserve.
The damaged site was part of a community-led effort spearheaded by the Balcombe Estuary Reserves Group (BERG) Mt Martha to restore native habitat and support wildlife by planting indigenous grasses, shrubs, trees and ground covers.
BERG, which relies on grants for funding, spent hours planting the affected site and adjoining areas after work first began in 2023 with the help of Balcombe Grammar and in August from Dromana Secondary College.
“It is disappointing and frustrating from BERG’s point of view that we spend a lot of time and money improving the local environment only to have it thoughtlessly destroyed,” BERG field officer Liz Barraclough said. “They were completely pulled out and scattered over the area.” Barraclough said they believed kids were responsible as there were makeshift bike jumps in the nearby bushland.
A few months ago, the Mornington Peninsula Shire also removed a cubby house in the revegetation area that was vandalised. At the time, there was also fire pit with a tea tree cut down to build the cubby. “We have left some of them (bike jumps). Kids will be kids, and you’ve got to give a little bit leeway but there are areas to do that, and the shire did make those jumps on the other side. The problem is they love to build their own,” she said.
Barraclough said BERG Mt Martha conducted more than four working bees in the cleared track areas above Ferrero Ovals after kids had built tracks and jumps down the slopes, including the affected site during Covid. A bushland contractor engaged by the shire and BERG Mt Martha to undertake various bushland management works had found the destruction.
Despite the setback, Barraclough said BERG Mt Martha was determined to continue its work.
“We are not sure of our next step. We shall be discussing a course of action with the Mornington Peninsula Shire natural systems team and our on-ground volunteers.”
However, she said they wouldn’t allow a few individuals from stopping what they see as a positive and vital mission for the environment. Volunteers were back at the area on 3 October to hold a working bee where they planted 40 new indigenous species as well as replanting some that had been pulled out.
First published in the Mornington News – 7 October 2025
