Yarra Ranges Council donated 37 enormous logs to the Community Group in April, to be repurposed into community-focused projects.
In a collaborative effort, VicForests covered the costs of transporting and delivering the logs to a property in Monbulk, while Yarra Ranges Council donated the materials themselves.
Founder of the group, Rescue Logs, Julia Hall said the timber will be used for two projects, with a focus on promoting resilience and reflection.
“We realised very early on we needed to have a project so that locals could have a place that in some ways memorialises the storm, but also gives them a peaceful place where they can sit and reflect in a beautiful area,” Julia said.
“The Kalorama Park project is just that and will have two aspects to it; the first being a play space with beautiful equipment, which will be very raw and tactile and the other being a reflection area.”
Over the past year Council has endeavoured to reuse as much fallen debris as possible with valuable logs being shared amongst the community for projects around the hills as a reflection of their significance in Yarra Ranges and their value to the local biodiversity.
This sentiment was shared by Julia who said she founded the aptly called ‘Rescue Logs’ group to rescue logs from being mulched or used as firewood.
“We want to save as many of these logs as possible and keep them in the hills on projects to rebuild so that people can enjoy them for years to come.”
Yarra Ranges Council Mayor, Jim Child said Council valued the community contribution and investment in creating spaces that acknowledge the storm and loss of trees.
“The Yarra Ranges is renowned for its environment both nationally and internationally. We were extremely saddened to see the loss of our trees and we are grateful to community groups like Rescue Logs who are repurposing this material into something that can be used by the community to remember and reflect, but also potentially help heal from the event,” said Cr Child
