Project at a glance
| Property | Three Chain Road, Newham VIC 3442 |
| Bioregion | Central Victorian Highlands |
| Restoration area | 36.8 hectares |
| Restoration type | Revegetation (21.8 ha) & Supplementary planting (15.0 ha) |
| Vegetation target | Herb-rich Foothill Forest & Swampy Riparian Woodland |
| Key species | Messmate, Narrow-leaf Peppermint, Silver Banksia, Swamp Gum, Acacia spp. |
| Threatened species | Critically Endangered Matted Flax-lily (roadside, Three Chain Rd) |
| Partners | Cassinia Environmental, Greenfleet, Trust for Nature |
Penny Roberts grew up in the inner city. She had no farming background, no family history on the land, and no particular plan to become a conservationist. Then, more than 30 years ago, she and her husband bought a weekender property near Newham, and it was a rabbit infestation that first drew her into the world of conservation. Looking for others who wanted to do something about the problem, she found a community of like-minded landholders, and a passion for the landscape that has only deepened ever since.
Today, Penny and her husband live permanently in the Newham district, and through the Victorian Government’s BushBank Program and co-funding from Greenfleet, she is overseeing the restoration of 36.8 hectares of native vegetation on a second property at Three Chain Road, one of the most significant restoration projects in this part of the Central Victorian Uplands.
“I’ve had so much joy out of seeing the changes in the properties that we’ve been living on and on this property, discovering all the value in this land, in the flora, in the animals, and seeing that change happen. And being part of it. Amazing.” – Penny Roberts
Penny and the property
The property at Three Chain Road sits approximately 10 kilometres south-east of Kyneton, in the heart of the Cobaw Biolink, a strategically significant wildlife corridor that connects Mount Macedon Regional Park with the Cobaw State Forest. When Penny acquired it in 2010, the paddocks were largely cleared from decades of cropping and grazing, with only scattered remnant patches of Messmate, Narrow-leaf Peppermint and Silver Wattle surviving in the northern reaches.
But the property had something else that caught Penny’s attention: the previous owners had already covenanted approximately 11 hectares of remnant woodland at the northern end. They had treated the land conservatively, and Penny was determined to build on what they had started.
Over the 20 years since Penny moved permanently to the district, she had come to understand this landscape in detail — its remnant patches, its threatened species, and its potential. The Critically Endangered Matted Flax-lily, last recorded on the roadside of Three Chain Road in 2015, is just one indicator of the ecological significance of this corner of the Macedon Ranges.
Penny’s vision for the property is clear and ambitious: to make it a key block within the Cobaw Biolink. Not a narrow shelter belt or a handful of paddock trees, but a substantial, dense patch of native bush that wildlife can live in, shelter in and move through.
“I see this as becoming a key block within the Cobaw Biolink — another one in that chain of bigger patches. And in between them, we’re working where we can with landowners to build stepping stones, links between the big blocks.”
The path to BushBank
Penny’s path to BushBank was shaped by two decades of involvement with the Newham and District Landcare Group, which she joined from its founding in 2004. Through Landcare she had learned the science of this landscape, built relationships with neighbouring landholders, and developed a clear picture of what the Cobaw Biolink needed. BushBank arrived as the opportunity she had been waiting for to act on her vision.
Practical reality also played a part. Penny recognised she was never going to be able to revegetate 36 hectares by herself. She was getting older, her husband was not able to do physical work, and the scale of what the property needed was simply beyond what one landholder could achieve alone. BushBank provided the resources, the expertise and the support to make the restoration she envisioned actually possible. When the opportunity came, there were no significant hesitations.
“I’m not a farmer and I was never going to be a farmer. I value the vegetation and the wildlife on the property we live on and on this property. And with BushBank, there are the resources and the support to get it done. I have the backup.”
How BushBank and Cassinia have supported Penny
From the outset, Penny found the BushBank process refreshingly collaborative. Cassinia Environmental’s team came to the property to assess existing vegetation and identify species for seed collection on-site. Rather than simply presenting Penny with a standard list and plan, they invited her into the process.
Penny had strong views about which species were ecologically important in this part of the Cobaw Biolink — plants that had been cleared from surrounding properties over the decades but still survived in nearby remnants just half a kilometre away. She was given the opportunity to review the species list and propose additions, and her suggestions were taken on board.
“I was given an opportunity to look at the plan and make adjustments to the species list, which I was pleased about. It was an easy process and I appreciated that.”
Weed management was also a priority. Willows that had been planted around the property’s dams over the years were poisoned before planting began — something Penny had flagged and was glad to see actioned. When spear thistle germinated densely in the rip lines following site preparation, Cassinia arranged a significant round of follow-up weed control across the planting lines, leaving Penny to manage only the smaller patches at the edges that were within her capacity.
The restoration plan itself was developed by Cassinia under the BushBank Program’s framework, mapping two distinct restoration zones: 21.8 hectares of revegetation across the largely cleared central and southern paddocks, and 15 hectares of supplementary planting in the northern area to enhance the degraded remnant vegetation and support the transition of a seasonal swampy depression toward Swampy Riparian Woodland.
Greenfleet, an environmental not-for-profit organisation, is co-funding the project. Greenfleet measures the carbon sequestered by the growing vegetation, providing an additional source of funding that helps make large-scale private land restoration viable. Greenfleet is fully funded by individuals and organisations taking critical climate action.
A Trust for Nature conservation covenant will permanently protect the restored vegetation once restoration targets are achieved.
What’s growing
Planting took place in autumn and winter 2025, establishing a diverse range of species characteristic of Herb-rich Foothill Forest, a woodland type that was once widespread across the Central Victorian Uplands but has been dramatically reduced through clearing. Multiple species of Eucalyptus are being established, including Messmate, Narrow-leaf Peppermint, Candlebark, Swamp Gum and Broad-leaved Peppermint, alongside Silver Banksia, Blackwood and Silver Wattle in the understorey layer.
Among the medium shrubs, Penny has a particular affection for Acacia paradoxa — Hedge Wattle — which the local herbivores tend to avoid, making it a useful protector for the more palatable species planted around it. The spiny Cassinia species plays a similar role, providing shelter within which other plants can establish without being grazed.
“My favourite at the moment is Acacia paradoxa because the herbivores don’t like it. I’m using it to protect other species. When they’re planted as part of a mixed planting they help protect the other things.”
The first 2025-2026 growing season brought challenges that required ongoing support. An unusually dry summer meant that Cassinia arranged supplementary watering on two occasions to protect the young plantings. Deer moving out of the adjacent Cobaw State Forest, along with kangaroos and wallabies, have been a persistent pressure — trampling plants and knocking over tree guards in the section of the property closest to the forest. Cassinia continues to monitor the site and work with Penny to manage these threats.
After the first challenging summer, the signs are encouraging. Penny is delighted to see the plantings have established well enough to carry through, even with competition from pasture grasses and pressure from grazing animals. She has also been thrilled by unexpected moments of natural regeneration, such as a hardenbergia appearing spontaneously in a paddock that had been under cultivation for at least 50 years. Small signs that the land is beginning to remember what it once was.
Annual monitoring by Cassinia will track progress against restoration targets for plant density and species diversity. Photo point monitoring will document the landscape transformation over time. The goal is a property that, within a generation, looks and feels like a natural area of dense native bush, a genuine piece of the Cobaw Biolink, carrying wildlife, sequestering carbon and standing as a permanent legacy on the land.
“I would hope there’ll be regeneration from the plantings that have happened and it’ll look like a natural area of fairly dense bush rather than a hair transplant of stakes and wrappers.”
A legacy worth leaving
Penny is under no illusions about how unlikely a conservationist she might have seemed three decades ago. She came from the inner city. She knew nothing of native vegetation, wildlife corridors or ecological restoration. It was curiosity, sparked by rabbits, nurtured by community, deepened by years of watching the land change, that brought her here.
Her daughter and young grandson now live on the property. They regularly walk up into the covenanted remnant at the northern end, exploring the bush, discovering what is there. For Penny, that is what the whole endeavour is for.
She hopes her experience encourages others, particularly those who feel daunted by the scale of what restoration requires, or who wonder whether their patch of land is big enough to matter.
Her message is simple: it does not matter where you start. What matters is that you do.
“I had no idea about any of this when I started. I moved from the city, inner city, and it was the rabbits that got me involved. What I discovered was really wonderful. Discovering all the value in this land, in the flora, in the animals, and seeing that change happen.”
The Victorian Government’s $77 million BushBank Program is restoring more than 20,000 hectares of land across Victoria to create healthy wildlife habitat and capture carbon.
The next round of expressions of interest are now open. For more information or to express interest in a BushBank project on your property, visit www.cassinia.com/bushbank.
