Surf Coast conservationist honoured as 100-year restoration push begins for Spring Creek Valley

For almost three decades, Graeme Stockton has lived on and cared for the Surf Coast.

The Bellbrae local has dedicated his life to improving and reviving the land around him, but despite what he and his colleagues have achieved, there is still a long way to go.

Together with the Surf Coast Environment Group (SCEG), Stockton is pursuing the restoration and revitalisation of the Spring Creek Valley.

It’s a project he says will not be completed in his lifetime.

“We’re at the very start of our 100-year vision plan,” Stockton said.

“The contest to save Spring Creek starts in 2007 – that was when developers unfurled a huge urban development program. The legal battle to save Spring Creek was won in 2022. The final legal processes are still in place to complete that, but saving the valley from developers is not the same as saving its ecology.

“Now the real work starts.”

In recognition of his many years of efforts, Stockton has today been awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for his service to conservation and the environment in this year’s King’s Birthday honours.

It is a recognition Stockton said should not just be for him, but all the volunteers who are working tirelessly to improve the Surf Coast’s environment.

Stockton was always surrounded by nature. Growing up in the Grampians, he developed a fascination with the land, plants and animals around him.

He said a genuine curiosity and desire to understand how the environment can support all the life it does led him to study horticulture.

Relocating to Bellbrae in the 1990s, Stockton has since volunteered thousands of hours to SCEG, Surfers Appreciating the Natural Environment and Jan Juc Coast Action.

His knowledge of the area is almost unmatched and his commitment to conservation runs deep.

Stockton said he feels fortunate to live in a region with three distinct bio-regions, although two have been heavily impacted by settlement and urban sprawl, with devastating consequences for flora and fauna.

But he does not operate in despair. Instead, he looks forward with hope.

“Our role is to understand what those pre-European vegetation systems look like and rather than accepting extinction as a foregone conclusion, we can be ambitious to put them back,” he said.

Over the years, Stockton has seen changing attitudes towards conservation in the region.

Speaking loudly and proudly about the work he and his groups are doing has helped shift that mindset.

Visibility is essential. By raising awareness and encouraging open conversation, Stockton has been able to work with landowners in the valley to help the revitalisation process.

“Once people know about those areas, it’s not just derelict farmland, people care for it much more,” he said.

Community-led initiatives, such as those pursued by Stockton and SCEG, are essential, he said, because they demonstrate to councils and governments that people care about the land and environment around them, whether on the Surf Coast or elsewhere in Australia.

“It’s when community demonstrates its resolve to make that change, that’s when the politicians will listen,” Stockton said.

“In that sense I feel like the challenge is now before the community to be the leaders of change.

“At the end of the day, all of us are breathing in and breathing out. We all drink water. We all rely on those environmental services.

“The environment is not an external thing. It’s planet Earth, a functioning living planet, and we’re struggling to maintain it at the moment because we’re pushing it too hard.”

Along the coast, Patricia Crosbie was awarded an OAM for her service to the community of Winchelsea, while Catherine Remenyi received hers for service to the community of Torquay. In Jan Juc, Geoffrey Thompston was awarded the OAM for service to surf lifesaving after more than 50 years protecting people in the water.