Mr Stampton said a lot of the worms' habitat was on steep, south-facing slopes. "It doesn't completely restrict it, but might say a survey has to be done and there are experts on the giant Gippsland earthworm who we'd get in and they'd say if the location is suitable or not." "The worm is vulnerable to deep ripping and hydrology changes, so the overlay really triggers if somebody is trying to build a large shed or something like that. "It's really around farmland and where people build buildings," he said. Paul Stampton, acting director of development services at South Gippsland Shire Council, said the overlay did not restrict people in towns, although "it's quite likely the worms existed in towns in the past". South Gippsland and Baw Baw councils have introduced planning scheme overlays that safeguard the worms' habitat against development. ( Supplied: Beverley Van Praagh) Planning overlay offers protection "My grandfather was a mycologist and also had an interest in that sort of thing, so I'd heard about the worm many years ago through him.Īs the worm moves through its tunnel, it makes a squelching noise.
"They found at least four to five colonies in wet areas fed by the springs," she said.īut the existence of the worm wasn't a surprise to her when she moved to the property in 2015. The colonies were identified by surveyors who visited the property. Ms Walters said she had not seen nor heard the worms, as they never surfaced.
"However, we had been considering doing some revegetation work with Melbourne Water, and if we do that we have certain areas where the worms are and we have to be careful with how we space the trees there." "The cattle just graze the grass … they can't do much damage to the earthworms. Having cattle coexist alongside the worms was "pretty straightforward", she said. "I feel like it's quite a privilege to have the giant Gippsland earthworm on our property," Ms Walters said. The worms live along a creek which feeds into the Lang Lang River. Their 84-acre property is home to four colonies of giant Gippsland earthworms. Libby Walters and Sam Gibson farm at Mountain View, between Warragul and Korumburra. "It sounds like water gurgling down a bathplug," Ms Taylor said.
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