Microforest draft concept plan to be unveiled Friday

A draft concept plan for the proposed Black Hill Microforest will be unveiled at a local primary school assembly tomorrow (Friday).

The draft proposal has been prepared using input from more than 40 local people and is the next step in establishing a microforest on a vacant block of land in Peel Street North, beside the post office.

The assembly is scheduled for 2.40pm at the Black Hill Primary School, which is heavily involved in the project and which will include the microforest in its curriculum.

A microforest is a small, dense, biodiverse woodland planted in urban areas using a method developed by Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki in the 1970s.

Microforests feature native species planted closely together to rapidly grow into self-sustaining ecosystems that combat climate change, create wildlife habitats, cool their host areas and enhance mental wellbeing.

Clissold Street resident Stuart Porteous, and Neil and Kaye Leckie, whose property adjoins the site, have been instrumental in driving the idea.

Porteous said the draft plan would remain on display in a room at the primary school for a week after today’s launch, with any further comments or feedback considered for inclusion in an ultimate master plan.

Porteous, a retired landscape architect, took the idea from his Canberra-based son Mitch, who is heavily involved with the Microforest Collective, which champions similar greening projects.

He founded the original working group with Ballarat-based Fifteen Trees founder Colleen Filippa and the Leckies.

The block measures about 1.6ha and separates the post office and residential development.

It was a builders’ tip in the 1950s – which is why it remains undeveloped – and is known as the Peel Street Water Reserve, under management of the City of Ballarat.

Porteous said the city, the Wadawurrung Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation and Central Highlands Water had all been consulted in the planning work and all were supporting the project.

“We’ve represented most of the suggestions that people have come forward with, and this is an opportunity for the public to view it and comment on it over the next week,” he said of the draft plan.

The microforest will be developed over a three-year timeframe and is being guided by an eight-person planning development team, which includes representatives of relevant authorities as well as residents.

Porteous said locals had been invited to a series of six site tours over six weekends, with their comments and ideas incorporated in the draft concept.

He said the master plan would be displayed on a noticeboard on the site.

There will be working bees on the site as the project progresses, along with a possible fundraising drive to help meet costs of materials – particularly soil.