Clunes locals are keen to form a new group to ensure the community gets good ongoing benefits from the 330 megawatt Nyaninyuk windfarm proposed for just west of the township.  

Acciona is looking to establish the wind farm between Evansford, Clunes and Waubra, on the western side of Mount Beckworth with the proposal now in the  planning and approvals phase.  

The proposed development is valued at $700 million and projected to generate enough energy to power the equivalent of 210,000 households with the Western Renewables Link power conduit route proposed to pass just south of Clunes.  

In recent days Clunes community members, farmers and council representatives  were among those who met to discuss the proposed development and ways to ensure  the community and landholders can broker the best impact compensation deals.  

One of the meeting’s several co-convenors, Malcom Hull says general consensus  emerging from the meeting is around the need to form and formalise a group to advocate on behalf of the community and to negotiate with the wind farm’s  developers to ensure the community receives ongoing benefits.  

“It’s coming and it was started back in John Howard’s day. This isn’t about being  pro or anti wind farm. It’s about making sure the community doesn’t get dudded,”  Mr Hull said.  

He points to impact compensation deals that other communities have negotiated  from the establishment of renewable energy projects in their area, as examples of what  can be achieved.

“Waubra is getting $90,000 a year for the community,” Mr Hull said.  

“Rokewood is getting $230,000 a year and every person who lives in Rokewood  (and was living there before the windfarm was established) is getting their power bill  paid for the next 25 years.  

“We need to formalise an entity that can argue on behalf of the community and  it’s up to the community to put thoughts forward as to how money could be spent –  maybe a community battery, maybe electric vehicle charger points, maybe money for  the CFA …”  

David Lawrance of Farm Gate Renewables was among those who attended and  spoke at this month’s community meeting.  

Mr Lawrance says communities, including landholders, are doing “the heavy  lifting” in the clean energy transition and need to be fairly compensated. But he  says that if communities like Clunes don’t pro-actively stand together then they risk  missing out on getting fair compensation.  

“You have a voice in this. You shouldn’t be a silent victim,” Mr Lawrance says.  

Farm Gate Renewables operates on a commercial basis, providing consultancy  and advocacy to negotiate better ongoing deals for impacted farmers and landholders.  But it also works on a pro bono basis to help communities that are impacted by  developments to get the best outcomes they can in terms of fair compensation.  

Mr Lawrance says providing legal advice on possible different structures that an  effective community advocacy group may be able to adopt is one way that Farm Gate  Renewables can assist communities like Clunes.  

From here, Mr Hull and fellow co-convenors like Dr Tess Brady, say locals who  are interested in being part of the proposed community advocacy group should attend  the regular Sunday evening community drinks gatherings that take place at Attitude  Clunes.  

“If people have got skills, legal skills for example, or any other skills or ideas, we’d  be more than happy to hear from them,” Mr Hull said.  

Dr Brady says the ongoing Sunday evening community drinks gatherings at  Attitude Clunes happen from 5pm (daylight saving hours) with all welcome to  attend.  

“We are looking closely at other cases, other communities and the kinds of  compensation they’ve had,” Dr Brady says.  

“It’s pro community and how can we turn this thing into something positive for  us. The main aim is to avoid contention and find consensus.  

“The big picture here is a redistribution of wealth into the regions. If you add up  the amount of compensation around, it’s big dollars.”  Words: Eve Lamb | Image: File   

with Eve Lamb

Mount Beckworth summit via the old Feldspar Mine, Clunes, 5km loop    

We’ve walked to the famed lollipop tree on the summit of Mount Beckworth near Clunes many a time, but never before from the western flank of the little mount, via its old Feldspar Mine.     

So today’s the day. Our starting point is the Cork Oaks camping ground which means we’ll be setting out through the remarkable old plantation that’s part of Mt Beckworth Scenic Reserve and which we visited in a previous edition of this series.

This historic and rare plantation is always a treat, especially when it’s sunny and today, after the howling gales of late, it’s (poor pun alert) a corker.     

The Feldspar Track to the summit is signposted from the Cork Oaks camping ground, and it’s pretty easy to follow on and up toward the Beckworth zenith with its 1918-planted lollipop tree, a Monterey pine.     

As most longer-term locals around here will tell you, back in the 1940s during  WWII, the lollipop tree was used as a beacon for trainees from the RAAF No. 1 Wireless Air Gunners School based at Ballarat Airport.

These days the lollipop tree serves as a welcome home landmark for residents of these parts, its unique silhouette discernible from many miles across the rolling plains.

Today I notice with striking clarity that the upper ridges of Beckworth’s rocky, granitic skyline are really quite tremendous.

And it’s not long either, about 200 metres, before a striking little reminder of this area’s dramatic volcanic past appears  to our right as we follow the track, climbing gently upward.

“Baby Seal Rock,” muses my walking companion, Paddy H, spontaneously christening the feature as we pause to admire this large boulder sitting rather dramatically in the midst of a sea of sturdy bracken fern.     

“Ye–es. I guess it could be,” I marvel at my walking companion’s creative genius. And the rock in question does get the imagination ticking over the millennia that have given rise to these geological features.  

We climb on and it’s such a pleasure to be out here with a fantastic view opening up behind us to the west. After the rugged weather of late, today is very,  very still and when we stop and look back it’s a surprise to see that a fine little fog has settled across the landscape below us, despite the fair skies above.     

The elevation ahead becomes increasingly steep, demanding a bit more walking effort that’s quickly rewarded after a few hundred metres with the discovery of the old feldspar mine site.

There’s a small but distinct mullock heap, with rock strewn like scree, while other aspects of this mine site are obscured by herbaceous growth.     

“So what the hell is feldspar?” I hear you ask…

A Resources Victoria government website states: “Feldspars are aluminosilicate minerals containing varying amounts of potassium, sodium and calcium. They are the most abundant mineral group, constituting about 60 per cent of the Earth’s crust.

“The most common economic deposits of feldspars are in pegmatites (coarsely crystalline granites or other igneous rocks with crystals several centimetres in length).

“Feldspar is an important source of alumina in the glassmaking and the ceramics industries. It is used in glazes and enamels and is an important mineral filler in paints, plastics, sealants, and adhesives.”

Beyond the site of the old feldspar mine, which I later find referred to also as “the Mount Beckworth Mineral Occurrence”, we enter a sweet little patch of native forest with some superb old yellow box trees and interesting large rock formations, that loom up particularly to our left.     

After about an hour of leisurely walking, and occasional stopping, we emerge at the summit that sits at 634 metres elevation and are greeted not only by the grand old heritage-listed lollipop tree itself, but also by wedge-tailed eagles – three of them – surfing gentle thermals in a benign sky to the east.     

We plonk down to make short work of the picnic lunch in our backpacks and there’s a repeated trilling bird-call that I recognise to be that of a bird of prey – though I’m not sure which type.     

Kookaburras also contribute energetically to the soundscape as does Paddy H with a few personal ponderings on the nature of this walk.     

Anyway, after we’ve lazed about soaking up the sunshine on the summit, we re-trace our steps, noting that the walk, done well, takes about three hours, allowing time to stop at points of interest and to ease back on the summit and appreciate the vista.

Back around the base of Beckworth, wattles are in bloom and small grey fantails flit and gossip and as we bid a fond farewell, those enviable eagles are still up there having a ball.    

Words & Images: Eve Lamb    

with Eve Lamb

Today we’re tackling a short sharp little gem of a walk known as The Cork Oaks Track.

Traversing the northern east-west flank of Mount Beckworth Scenic Reserve just out of Clunes this under-acknowledged little beauty is noteworthy for several reasons, the most obvious being its namesake – the cork oaks (Quercus suber). More on them when we reach them…

As mentioned, this is a short walk, only 6.5 kms the round trip, but don’t be fooled. By the time you’re finished with it you’ll feel like you’ve had a decent little workout as it does pack a couple of pulse-raising small punches of elevation.

The first challenge is getting to the starting point. We enter the Mount Beckworth Scenic Reserve at its north-eastern end, by vehicle, having driven from Clunes and taken the Maryborough Road, followed by Cemetery, Golf Course, Pickford’s and Kierces roads to reach The Dam located within in the Reserve.

There’s one or two points where extra careful driving may be called for, particularly depending on recent rainfall activity and the degree of gravel road maintenance that’s occurred since.

The Dam. This is our starting point, on the north eastern flank of Mount Beckworth. It’s a top little picnicking spot with tall native water grasses making a sweet habitat for various birds. Above us a black kite shoots the breeze and from here we first start out on the Dam Track skirting around the northern edge of The Dam itself before we encounter the first short sharp little climb.

By this stage we’ve already enjoyed plenty of native flora, eucalypts full of blossom and the drowsy afternoon drone of working bees, and some native casuarina as we climb the Beckworth lower flank with its rocky granite ridgelines.

The Oval. We reach The Oval. It’s a small flat grassy plateau offering excellent views back to the east over the volcanic plains with their ‘mammeloid’ hills rollicking away to far shimmering horizons. At this time of year, late spring, The Oval itself is a tangle of native, and some not-so-native grasses interlaced with intricate indigenous wildflowers.

From here there’s a very gentle climb, gaining great views to the west, across agricultural land and the distant Waubra wind farm towers. Leaving The Oval, we join the Yellow Box Track for a short while, and the trail weaves through splendid examples of the namesake yellow box gums and some remarkable
rocky outcrops and large boulders festooned with rugged lichens. The track is pretty well signposted and soon we find the turnoff to the Cork Oaks clearly marked ahead.

Snakes We’ve reached mid-walk, the sun’s beating down, late afternoon and, camera in hand, I’m admiring yellow native paper daisies in full brilliance and magnificent swirls of bark on old growth gums, when I almost step on a brown snake.

Fortunately it’s about as happy to see me as I am it and when I see it, all of a school ruler’s length from my boot. It’s already sliding away from me about as fast as its belly muscles can carry it. At this point, my trusty walking companion for this expedition – Paddy H – declares a lunchbreak.

Refuelled, we head on toward the Cork Oaks through an undulating and visually interesting section of trail. The woodland all around is dry but with all of those rocky boulder features and views, it’s also imposing with a grandeur all its own, not to mention generous wafts of that classic hot Aussie bushland scent that you can only get by doing exactly this.

Lucky. Having almost stepped on a highly venomous brown snake I’m pretty vigilant at this point in our trek and we count ourselves lucky to have had such a peaceable warning encounter as the track now descends toward a dry watercourse; dry yet, in late November, still green enough along its immediate riparian zone to suggest the sort of small life forms that attract plenty of hungry reptiles.

The Cork Oaks After crossing the dry creek bed there’s only a few hundred metres left to walk before we finally reach the Cork Oaks. They’re nothing if not a surprise packet out here on the western flank of the Mount Beckworth Scenic Reserve.

Prior to doing this walk I’ve done a bit of research and discovered that these 40 odd mature exotic trees were planted here back in 1965 as a then Forests Commission Victoria trial. The goal was to determine the viability of growing cork oaks (Quercus suber) for domestic commercial uses and came about following some fairly intense lobbying by a persistent and well-connected captain of industry of the day.

My research also informs that cork oaks occur naturally around the western Mediterranean and that cork from cork oaks has been used since ancient times as bottle stoppers, footwear, insulation and floats for fishing.

Since the 17th century the production and export of cork had been an important industry in Portugal and Spain, the bark first harvested when the trees were about 25 years old and thereafter at nine to 12 year intervals.

Unfortunately, it appears nothing much beyond an interesting diversion for the more horticulturally-minded boffins in the Forests Commission ever really came of the trial. Beyond the living legacy that endures of course.

Today the western edge Mount Beckworth cork oaks are one of the very few traces remaining of a handful of early cork oak trials conducted by the Forests Commission Victoria last century. This little remnant trial plot features some truly beautiful trees with their corrugated trunks and wizened leaves offering welcome shade in a frequently parched land.

We arrive and fling down our backpacks for a while to lie back in the oaks’ silvery shadows and appreciate these imposing specimens and their novel place in history, along with a well earned coffee or two.

Time slips away easily here, but don’t leave it too long to start heading back if you’ve taken on this walk toward dusk as the return leg may seem longer than you’d think, particularly the last descent from The Oval back to The Dam which can be super slippery, particularly when it’s really dry.

This is a top shelf little walk for its views and unique points of interest. If you’re sampling it in the warm part of the year, just watch out for the snakes.

Images: Eve Lamb