Community updates, including our film night, Pub Chat, Biodiversity Linkages projects, Bushcare group, Quolls & more.

Boomerang Alliance is pushing to stop plastic pollution and solve the packaging issue by lobbying for an extended producer responsibility scheme to require producers to fund the collection and recovery of their packaging, by fast-tracking a national soft plastics collection scheme and by introducing tougher regulations for problem plastics and single-use plastic items.

The setting is Messines Farm in Amiens on the Granite Belt, and it is the star of the show. In four parts, the documentary explores the practice of regenerative farming in real life.  Backed up by the evidence and guest scientists the documentary clearly outlines the benefits of regenerative farming and what it looks like from the soil up. 

The recent Federal Election confirmed that the majority of Australians are looking for a less divisive more respectful debate about the big challenges facing Australia.

The Granite Belt urgently needs a strategy to reverse the threat of species extinction in our region. Locally endangered species include the Koala and the Spotted- tailed Quoll. According to the latest information, 27 fauna species are listed as threatened and 45 species of the Granite Belt’s flowering plants are listed as threatened including 5 that are critically endangered.

Plastic bottle caps are often on the list of the most common items found in wild places and every effort we can make to keep them out of our environment is worthwhile. Unfortunately, the advice for citizens in the Southern Downs has been to take the lids off bottles and put them in the landfill bin, but there are many people in our community who have been hoarding caps in the hope that a solution can be found. We think we might have found one!

Climate change sceptics and deniers need to go no further than their home insurance bills to confirm that we are all starting to pay for the impacts of climate change. 

As the financial arbiters of risk and associated costs, the global insurance sector has started passing on the cost of climate change to consumers. And like climate change, the financial impacts are truly global. 

We have been putting most of our energy and time this last month into a proposal to relaunch the Land for Wildlife programme in our region and for the Southern Downs Regional Council to create a Land for Wildlife Officer position. 

5PM FRIDAY 16TH MAY 2025. COME FOR A DRINK OUT THE BACK AT O’MARA’S HOTEL AND MEET YOUR FELLOW GBSAN MEMBERS

The Southern Downs Regional Council has announced the dates for free drop off days for Household Chemicals, Warwick on 12th April, 9am-3pm, and Stanthorpe on 3rd May, 9am-3pm (yes, that’s election day).

Another great Bushcare morning weeding out LOVEGRASS at Amiens where Andrew lives. This is a wildflower hotspot. Andrew has extensive knowledge of the wonderful wildflowers and grasses. We helped grubbing out LOVEGRASS clumps and you can see how native grasses and the endangered Zieria Graniticolia have been able to raise their heads. A good strategic use of our GBSAN Bushcare group to help with bringing back healthy biodiversity. Andrew even baked us a cake and took us on a walk to see the exciting things happening on this block.

The Whistlestop Heritage and Community Garden has taken the initiative to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill in the Southern Downs. In a partnership with Terracycle, the Whistlestop has collected over 10,000 blister packs, 15,000 coffee pods and other items which has saved over 150 Kg of waste going to landfill.

Our GBSAN Bushcare group did a mighty job clearing over 500 m of invasive weeds along Accommodation Creek! What a team!

We can't afford to muck around when it comes to controlling the numbers of Feral cats in Australia. These super-hunting machines are a growing environmental menace in Australia, posing a significant threat to native wildlife and biodiversity.

BLOG is a great way to meet people interested in living a more sustainable lifestyle and to learn new skills. Our format is friendly, flexible and welcoming with monthly Saturday meetings starting at 10am. We have no formal committee - just a few people happy to see BLOG get going again and have a bit of fun. Each month we will meet at someone's property (the host) and focus on a particular subject.

An update from Elaine who runs the TerraCycle program located at the Whistlestop Gardens, at the Stanthorpe Railway precinct.

Living in the Granite Belt gives us an appreciation of its amazing flora and fauna. Many plants and animals call the Granite Belt home too and some of these species are vulnerable or endangered. Some are unique to this region and not found anywhere else in the world!

Barbara and Philippa of the Waste and Resource Recovery Team would like to extend a huge thanks to every community member who volunteered their time and their excess goods to the GBSAN Garage Sale on the 9th November. There are too many people to list but you know who you are - congratulations in helping make the monster Garage Sale a success.

The new Council has moved to expand its Pest Management Advisory Committee (PMAC) with the inclusion of representatives from of a broader range of interest groups. This includes the Invasive Species Council and representatives from Granite Borders Landcare, the Condamine Headwaters Landcare Group and Southern Qld Landscapes. A representative from local traditional owners has also been invited to join the committee. I have also been accepted on to the committee as a community representative.

GBSAN held a successful AGM and gathering on Sunday 24th November. Rick Humphries gave a report on the many projects currently undertaken by the different teams active in the network.