The Johnston Street bushcare team coordinated with National Parks to do a large removal of cuttings from the bushcare site. One of the team Julie Deady, says, “There were several of us, plus the NPWS driver, Rory. We worked from 9 till after 11 dragging cut branches and vines from the bush and piling them on the truck.
Some of the cuttings have been waiting for two years to be removed from the Park, from when they were damaged by Sydney Water. Mainly privet bushes and Ochna (Mickey Mouse Plant) have been removed to allow light through to the forest floor and encourage the growth of indigenous plants. It was a big effort this morning!”
A decade after it was saved from Westconnex, I recently visited the Johnston Street bushcare site and was amazed at how much work the bushcare team has done there. No longer choked by weeds, substantial areas of regenerating bush now look so open and beautiful. Wrens flit through bushes in dappled light and many turns of the track reveal another open view.
The walking track through the western end of the Regional Park leads from Johnston Street through bushland forest to the western park entrance on Bexley Road. This area was the site of one of the very first bushcare grants that the Society received, in the mid 1990s. Careful removal of vines and weeds in places revealed some brilliant bushland underneath and WCPS knew straight away it was worth saving.
Bushcare Coordinator Paul Ibbetson says,
“We have worked hard to open up the dense weedy canopy, vines and asparagus fern to let light in and encourage regeneration. Native plants do better in open, dry, sunny conditions. It’s a lot of work to manage and control the weeds. The bush does not come back by itself. We are very proud of our small team’s results. But we would love some more willing volunteers in our Wednesday morning sessions.”
Contact bushcare@wollicreek.org.au if you are interested in helping the team
Deb hugs tree 2012
Bushcare team member Deb Little says,
“We’re glad we campaigned so hard to save this bushland from Westconnex in the early 2010s. We were at risk of losing several hectares of native forest to a ‘cut and cover’ motorway tunnel. ”
Treemendous 2014Westconnex Protest 2015
As part of the Society’s protests, Deb organised several National Tree Day events to celebrate this bushland and highlight the threat of Westconnex. Many people participated in her ‘Hug a Tree Day’ in 2012, ‘Inspired by Wolli’ in 2013 and ‘Tree-mendous Wolli’ in 2014.
“This area was farmed, you can see remains of stone fences and terracing, so the bush was very disturbed, trashed in fact. It’s remarkable how much it has recovered. We are now seeing nice patches of native ferns and orchids and even the formerly very rare Cabbage Tree Palms are coming back. We’ve seen Eastern Yellow Robins and a Tawny Frogmouth too.”
The Wolli Creek Preservation Society met with engineers from Canterbury Bankstown Council (CBCity) for a site meeting at the Hartill-Law Bridge in Bardwell Park to discuss upcoming rehabilitation of the embankment under the bridge. The eroded embankment is in poor condition and the walking trail there is overgrown with weeds, so we are pleased to see some progress at last.
In 2007, the City of Canterbury, in conjunction with WCPS, received a $10,000 grant from the Cooks River Foreshores Improvement Programme for construction of a board walk under the bridge on the northern side of the creek, which would bypass the only road crossing in the 5 km Wolli Valley walking track. This underpass walkway is the missing link in the Wolli Track section of the Two Valley Trail.
But the planned works weren’t carried out until Canterbury Bankstown Council finally scheduled this work for 2022/23 and planning is now underway.
Council will employ contractors to clear the existing weeds like Crofton, Morning Glory and Lantana choking the embankment. Council engineers will rehabilitate the embankment with shotcrete to stabilize the area and improve drainage on and under the bridge to provide some protection from flooding. Horizontal concrete will also be laid at the bottom of the slope to create the underpass walkway.
WCPS also discussed with the Council Bushcare Officers present at the briefing how the work could be carried out with minimal impact on the nearby bush restoration work, which is carried out by volunteers around and in the wetland to the west of the bridge, off Bray Avenue.
Works are planned to commence in January. If all goes to plan, bushwalkers will have pleasant bush tracks leading to the bridge from both sides and the new underpass as a welcome alternative to crossing busy Hartill-Law Ave.
Only a few weeks since the Hazard Reduction burn at Girrahween, it’s pleasing to see how much green regrowth there is to see already. Some plants like ferns and Greenhood Orchids are sending up fresh shoots or leaves, but other plants like these Acacia Kennedias are sprouting from seed that had been laying dormant in the soil until the fire. Everything is getting a good watering with all this rain. Well worth going for a walk to see for yourself.
A keen group of bushcarers tackled the weeds at the Hazard Reduction burn site at Girrahween this morning, below Sutton Ave, Earlwood. Bushcare Coordinator Paul Ibbetson is pleased National Parks were able to do the burn in this area, “The bushland is adapted to frequent irregular fires, but since European settlement, fires have been suppressed. These burns help not only protect nearby houses, but they restore the health of the bushland. It’s great to see that after only a couple of weeks, the green shoots of some native plants are already showing.” We saw Kookaburras, Ravens and Currawongs closely inspecting the site for tasty snacks.
The bushcare group made a great start on removing introduced species around the edges of the burn, such as Privet, Ochna, Asparagus Fern and Corky Passion Flower. There will be another session this Wednesday 17th April to continue this important and satisfying work. If you’d like to join in and help us, contact Paul at bushcare@wollicreek.org.au.
The Wolli Creek Society will be holding 2 bushcare sessions at Girrahween Park in Earlwood on Saturday 13th and Wednesday 17th April, from 9 to 12.
If you’d like to join us to do some weeding around the edges of the recent burn area at Girrahween, please contact Paul at bushcare@wollicreek.org.au. He will tell you where to come and what to bring.
Many of us living in Earlwood could smell smoke last Wednesday, 27th March, or could see smoke rising from the bush below Earlwood shops.
The National Parks and Wildlife Service was doing a Hazard Reduction burn in the bush below Sutton Place, from the eastern side of the picnic ground down to the lower Girrahween track and east along the track for a short distance. NPWS run a continual program of HR, looking to burn areas that haven’t seen fire for a long period. This manages the ecosystem and reduces the risk of fire for nearby houses.
The fire burnt very well through the good shrubby bush down the slope. But as expected, the more weedy upper slope didn’t burn as well, so Bushcare Coordinator Paul Ibbetson is organizing weeding sessions to weed around the edges of the burn site.
On June 8 a WCPS volunteer Bushcare team was horrified to find that bushland at the Bexley North end of the Wolli Creek Valley had been cleared by a Sydney Water contractor. Many native trees and shrubs have been cut down, native grasses and other ground covers severely whipper snipped, ferns and orchids crushed, and the branches of cut vegetation piled on top of other native plants.
WCPS has issued a press release which can be viewed here
Come along and help us plant hundreds of native plants on the morning of Sunday 26th April. Get some morning exercise as well as a great sense of satisfaction from making a contribution to the environment of the Wolli Valley.
Meet at 9 am at the corner of Bray Ave. and Hartill-Law Ave. Bardwell Park.
We will be planting from 9 am to about 11 am.
The planting site is only about 100 metres north of Bardwell Park railway station. Buses also stop near the station. Parking is available in Bray Ave.
No experience needed, and tools will be provided. If you have a favourite pair of gardening gloves bring them with you. If not, we will have gardening gloves available for you to use.
Please RSVP to bushcare@wollicreek.org.au if you are coming so that we can make sure we have enough tools on hand – and enough cups of tea available afterwards.
