Community
5 December, 2025
Major milestone for Mt Elephant
DERRINALLUM’S Mount Elephant marked a special milestone last Sunday, with residents and visitors celebrating 25 years of community ownership for the landmark.
Mount Elephant was privately owned until 2000, where the Derrinallum community partnered with Trust for Nature to purchase the dormant volcano for $200,000, with the community raising half of the purchase price in five months.
Last Sunday saw the mountain opened for guided walking tours as well as an ‘identify the plant’ quiz and an informative talk on volcanic rocks found around the mount.
Mount Elephant Community Management treasurer Lesley Brown said the committee was pleased with the turnout despite wet and cold weather.
“There were about 130 people who came throughout the day – there was a busload of people from Melbourne, and a number of people who have been involved with Mount Elephant over the years came along,” she said.
“We’re very happy about the community purchase and what’s been done over the years.
“A lot of them didn’t realise we’ve done so much – building the visitor centre, the walking tracks and we’ve done so much vegetation work.
“There was one girl who happened to be passing by and, when she was five ears old, she would put out grass seeds and help plant trees – she was pleased to see what had been done.
“We’ve got a really good, positive committee to keep going.”
With support from the Corangamite Shire Council, state and federal governments, Landcare, the Borbidge Fund – which was established in honour of Derrinallum residents Jack and Millie Borbidge – and the Derrinallum community, Mount Elephant has seen the establishment of walking tracks, the construction of the visitor centre in 2016 and revegetation works to replace the trees lost in the 1944 and 1977 bushfires.
Among the special guests at the celebration were Corangamite Shire councillors Kate Makin, Nick Cole and Jamie Vogels, members of the Trust for Nature and resident Laweton French, who has lived at the base of the mountain most of his life.
Mrs Brown said she was pleased to see the special guests able to help mark the milestone.
“They (Trust for Nature) are our partners, and they’ve always been supportive, so it was excellent to have them come along and let them see what we do and how much support we have,” she said.