Rotary Guest Speaker: John Miller's vision for the Moyne River delivered in his talk about his Moyne River Landscape project.
At its meeting on 16th February 2026, the Rotary Club of Port Fairy welcomed our guest speaker, John Miller, who has strong ties with Port Fairy U3A.
Since coming to Port Fairy 9 years ago, John has developed an interest in improving the quality of water along the Moyne River - from its source near Penshurst to the mouth of the Moyne at Port Fairy - a journey of 85 kilometers.
Under his U3A study of the rivers of SW Victoria, John has identified some of the environmental challenges affecting the overall health of the Moyne River, which he generally acknowledged is in poor condition, in part because of the low flow and fall rates (an average of 2.5 meters per kilometer), and the run-off from farms along the route, which allows contamination by fertilizers and animal excrement.
In summary, he thinks the river is treated more as a drain than a river. There is a distinct lack of trees and vegetation along the banks and an abundance of weeds that dominate the water course.
John's vision is, that with community support, the river can be greatly improved and he is calling for expressions of interest in fostering an improvement project. In this regard, he is seeking support from community groups, schools, farmers, the Glenelg-Hopkins CMA. The immediate need is for planting of trees and shrubs and erection of fences together with weeding along the banks. Essentially, what he sees as a path to improvement is Enthusiasm, Energy and Labour - and of course... Funding!
John's hope is, that by the end of 2026, he will have generated sufficient community interest and support to get a firm project plan formulated and an action group assembled, led by a strong leader, to carry the project forward.
John acknowledged that funding will always be a challenge and that grants are perhaps the only way to cover the cost of replenishment of trees/shrubs and establishment of fences. However, all he is asking for at present, is to "spread the word" that the Moyne River can be greatly improved with community effort and desire.
Similar studies and projects, undertaken by the Glenelg-Hopkins CMA, on the Merri and Hopkins rivers has seen large revegetation projects taking place involving community groups, resulting in an increase in fish and other wildlife along the rivers. He proposed that various local community groups could perhaps "adopt a river section" to oversee the revegetation and clean-up on that section. This should also be done for the Moyne River - so spread the word!
In closing, Rotary Club President, Graeme Cox, thanked John for his presentation and said that the Club will undoubtedly discuss the project further and see where we can best lend support.