The Cottage

Cottage History

The MCCG Environment Centre at the very end of Gold Creek Road on the Gold Creek Dam Reserve

In 2008, the Lord Mayor opened “The MCCG Environmental Centre” fondly called “The Cottage”. This excellent facility close to Gold Creek dam was generously made available by the City Council and is proving invaluable as an educational centre. It houses a library of books relevant to local biodiversity and has a seminar room that suits up to 20 people for meetings, seminars and talks.  Since 2009 monthly Talks at the Cottage have been held with the focus on locally relevant topics which raise awareness and encourage participation. The popular Third Thursday Talks at the Cottage have covered topics as varied as local bats, bees, beetles and butterflies, botanical art and dung beetles, figs and frogs, grasses and gliders, lichen and lungfish, native plant ID and photography, snails and water quality. The availability of The Cottage as an environmental centre has also made it possible to host larger events, such as the Kids’ Day at the Cottage which started in 2010 and has since been held annually attracting up to 300 visitors (children plus parents) to the Cottage on the second Sunday in June.

A cottage garden has been established displaying many of the lower-growing native plants of the district, each labelled. A small but dedicated team cares for this garden.

Cottage Gardeners

The Cottage Garden was established to experiment with and demonstrate how the plants native to the catchment and grown in our nursery might be used in suburban gardens. Work on the Cottage Garden takes place on Monday afternoons from 3 - 4 pm in winter and from 4 - 5 pm in the summer. If you would like to get involved, contact Warren Hoey by email or ph 3878 9123.