Access to the Melbourne Water Western Treatment Plant at Werribee is
by permit only. Permits are readily obtainable either by writing to
Melbourne Water at Private Bag 10, Werribee, Victoria 3030 or by
telephone (03) 9742 9209. The permit costs $20 and will be issued to
you within a few days of your application providing details of your
name and address, reason for permit application (birdwatching is
readily accepted) and motor vehicle model, colour and registration
details. The permit includes a map showing details of all prohibited
areas. The map is useful in finding the key birding spots if you
already have details of where these are.
The major difficulty once you have obtained your permit is to find
your way around. The Western Treatment Plant is a secured area -
meaning you need a key to get through the many locked gates. If you
visit with a local birder who knows the area well, it is possible to
get to the key birding spots without a key, but without local
knowledge you can spend many hours driving around. There are over 200
kilometres of roads within the Western Treatment complex. Local
birders are able to obtain a key from the office by contacting
Melbourne Water before their visit. I doubt however that they would
be prepared to provide you with a key if you had not visited Werribee
before.
The best option is usually to visit Werribee with someone who both
knows the area and has a key. I would normally be happy to help but
on the weekends you will be in Melbourne I will be doing
reconnaissance, for and participating in the Bird Observers Club of
Australia Challenge Bird Count.
I hope this is of some help. You could call me on (03) 9258 6837 (w)
when you arrive and I can give you more detailed information.
Regards
John Barkla
----------
From: Jo Wieneke[SMTP:
Sent: Monday, 24 November 1997 20:04
To:
Cc: John Barkla
Subject: RFI - Melbourne/Weribee
I have a request on behalf of Helen and Hans Laue, birders from
Calgary,
Canada who have been here for the last few months. They will be in
Melbourne
from Dec 8-14th and are interested in finding about places to go
birding
round Melbourne and they have of course heard of Werribee. They'd
like to
know if they need special permission to get in and if so how do they
obtain
this. If anyone can help please reply direct to Hans -
Thanks
Jo
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