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Eco paddle Valerie

Wolli Creek Eco-Paddle on Sunday 1 June

It was a perfect day for our Wolli Creek Eco Paddle on Sunday. One of our paddlers, Valerie, has shared her experience of the day. 

The weather had been miserable – grey skies, cold winds, even dust. Quite off-putting. Then today, first day of winter – sunny, calm, clear air, perfect for paddling on the Wolli. Perfect for seeing the Wolli Creek Regional Park from the water. We learnt a little about the estuarine lifestyle of the Gadigal and Bidjigal people pre-colonisation; about how early settlers used this area; mangroves being decimated to make soap; about the SWOOS being a heritage engineering structure; the threats of the M5 being built on top of Wolli Creek; of the plan to scrunch Nanny Goat Hill into gravel for the airport’s new runway to extend into Botany Bay; of market gardens, industries, and more…. 
 
I turn 85 next month and I recommend this Eco Paddle as perfect for all ages. My allocated partner was a strong paddler. As well she was quick to spot the kingfisher, the advance guard of the yellow-tailed black cockatoos, cormorants, a white-faced heron… and more.
 
Back on land in the River Canoe Club on the Cooks there was tasty afternoon tea and info about the WCPS activities like vigilance re threats, bat count, bush care, bird surveys, bat picnic, guided springtime walks and the annual dinner
 
The WCPS Eco Paddle is fun, sociable and informative for all ages, for newcomers to the Valley and, also, to those who know the area well. Thanks to volunteers from WCPS and River Canoe Club for organising the paddle. 
 
Thank you Valerie for sharing your experience. More eco paddles will be scheduled for later in the year.
map of land near Wolli Bluff

UPDATE ON GOVT LAND SELL OFF AT WOLLI BLUFF

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On 2 April 2025, the NSW state government sold two blocks of vacant land at Wolli Bluff. The blocks were bundled together to attract a developer, and the public was excluded from the auction.  WCPS opposes development on these blocks and handed out flyers to bidders as they entered the auction. The blocks sold for $2.93M. This post describes the events leading up to the auction, and what we can expect in terms of possible future development.

Events leading up to the auction

2022-2024: WCPS campaigns for a proposal to “green” Unwin Street in Earlwood. The proposal includes two blocks of land at Wolli Bluff (16-18 Bayview Ave). In a series of meetings over two years, our proposal is apparently supported by the Premier, the local member, Sophie Cotsis, three ministers (Kamper, Sharpe and Haylen) and Canterbury Bankstown Council.

February 2024: Without any warning or consultation, the two blocks at 16-18 Bayview Ave are advertised for auction, bundled as one.

March 2024: Independent Councillor, Barbara Coorey gives notice of a motion to re-zone these two blocks at a meeting of Canterbury Bankstown Council on 29 April 2025. On the day prior to the auction, this motion is included in the contract for sale with a new planning certificate that locates half of the larger block (Lot 2 DP 1237702) in an environmentally sensitive area (Coastal Zone, shown as a hatched area in the diagram above).

2 April 2025: The two blocks at Wolli Bluff are sold for $2.93M at an auction from which the public is excluded. WCPS hands out flyers to bidders alerting them to community opposition to development at Wolli Bluff.

There is a narrow strip of land at the foot of Wolli Bluff zoned National Parks and Nature Reserves (Lot 1 in the diagram above). According to the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, there are plans to transfer Lot 1 to the Wolli Creek Regional Park.

WCPS has several concerns and questions about Lot 1, including:

  1. the removal of trees and bushes
  2. timing of the transfer to the Regional Park
  3. Protections of the bluff from any heavy machinery used to clear the adjacent block (Lot 2) for development.

5 April 2025: WCPS put these questions and concerns to the Office of Strategic Lands and received a dismissive reply.

29 April 2025: Independent Councillor Barbara Coorey tabled her motions at a Council meeting. Both were seconded by Greens Councillor, Conroy Blood.

The first motion sought to re-zone 18 Bayview Ave and 16 Bayview Ave from Low Density Residential (R2) to either Public Recreation (RE1) or National Parks and Nature Reserves (C1). This motion was defeated by Labor councillors voting as a block, without any debate.

Councillor Coorey’s second motion calls on the Council to ensure the Department of Planning clearly marks the boundary between Lots 1 and 2 and ensures Lot 1 is protected. This second motion passed unopposed.

What are the implications for future development?

The narrow strip of land zoned C1 (Lot 1) cannot be used for residential development. WCPS will seek to ensure it becomes part of the Wolli Creek Regional Park.

The block at 16 Bayview Ave can be developed with a two-storey building for residential purposes with no environmental constraints.

The block at 18 Bayview Ave can be used for residential development but is currently subject to height restrictions and environmental constraints that require a comprehensive assessment of any development proposal (the developer cannot use a private certifier). WCPS will be pressing Canterbury-Bankstown Council to enforce these restrictions.

Chris Jordens

President, Wolli Creek Preservation Society

Graphic of land at Wolli Bluff

MISTAKEN IDENTITY: DILEMMA FOR MINNS

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We call on the Premier to rectify an error which we believe has occurred in relation to the imminent sale by auction of crucial lots of publicly-owned, open space land immediately adjacent to Wolli Creek Regional Park at Wolli Bluff. For more see the recent WCPS media release

250328 media release 2B

FEBRUARY UPDATE NOW AVAILABLE NOW ON THE WEBSITE

Lots of good info to read here at

https://wollicreek.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Feb-Update-2025.pdf

See reports on the new playground at Turrella Reserve, conditions on the walking tracks and repairs to the Turrella footbridge. See the Johnston Street bushcare site ten years after it was saved from Westconnex. And a rare sighting of a dancing Peacock Spider in the valley! There are also some great summer pictures from Dave Noble and Philip Le Mesurier.

February Update cover
February Update
Walkers

We love our Rivers – Autumn Wolli Creek Guided Walks

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The Wolli Creek Preservation Society is conducting guided walks this Autumn as part of the Canterbury-Bankstown Councils We Love Our River events. 

This is a great opportunity to come along and walk part of or the full length of the track in the Wolli Creek Regional Park at a leisurely pace. We have two walks scheduled. One is 3.5km from Bexley North to Turrella Reserve on the 23 March. The second one is 5km from Tempe to Bexley North on 13 April.

Our volunteer guides will share their knowledge of this bushland, its cultural and environmental history, as well as information about the current issues facing the Wolli Valley and the bush regeneration (Bushcare) work the Society is undertaking. 

This walk is sponsored by the Canterbury-Bankstown Councils We Love Our Rivers program

Bookings are essential. For further information and bookings see our Upcoming Events page. 

Fungal foray

May Fungal Foray

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Many mushroom enthusiasts gathered on a beautiful Saturday morning. The group, led by David Noble of the Sydney Fungal Studies Group Incorporated (SFSGI), headed out from Girrahween Park on a trail of fungi discovery along the Two Valley Trail. Many species were identified and keenly photographed. We found many varieties, here are just a few of them.

Ghost mushrooms – Omphalotus nidiformis. This amazing species of fungus is known for its bioluminescent properties. There are only a handful of places that you can see these growing in the wild and here they are right on our doorstep!

Waxcaps – often brightly coloured and have a dry to waxy cap. This one is the Verdigris Waxcap Gliophourus viridis. They were very sticky to touch.

Bolete mushrooms – Boletes can be identified due to their unique mushroom cap. The cap is clearly different from the stem. On the underside of the cap there is usually a spongy surface with pores, instead of the gills typical of mushrooms. These mushrooms can grow to huge sizes.

We also saw Lycoperdon puffballs. Puffball fungus when mature burst on contact or impact releasing a cloud of spores. 

Due to the recent hazard reduction burn, we were lucky to see post-fire mushrooms. These Anthracobia muelleri are tiny disc-shaped fungus that fruit prolifically on burnt soil.

A huge thanks to everyone who came along today and to David for sharing his invaluable knowledge. Our walks along the trail will forever be more interesting armed with this “mush’’ knowledge.

Helen Addison & her son Oliver  on behalf of the Wolli Creek Preservation Society

Eco-paddlers set off from River Canoe Club on Cooks River

Eco-Paddle on a Sunny Sunday

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Persistent wet and windy weather forced the postponement and then cancelling of one of the May paddles. A second paddle went ahead as planned thanks to a gap in the rain at last.
 
It was a real team effort, with thanks to Kate Flannery for organising and guiding the paddle, Thor Blomfield for support on and off the water and Society President Chris Jordens for overall assistance and informative presentation about the Society. Julia Frecheville also deserves thanks for proving a great afternoon tea back at the River Canoe Club. 
 
Future paddles are planned for spring 2024, so keep your eyes out. 
Ute Foster

WOLLI VALLEY ARCHIVE AT CAMPSIE LIBRARY

Long-time WCPS member and bushwalk guide Ute Foster recently completed a year-long labour of love. Since Judy Finlason’s death a year ago, Ute has been using her skills as an ex-librarian to sort and catalogue Judy’s many boxes of old Wolli Creek Valley memorabilia and historical documents reaching back to the early days of the Society’s fight to save the Valley from development in the 1980s.

Ute recently delivered three more boxes of these WCPS archives to Campsie Library.  They now have two boxes of 25 scrapbooks and three boxes of other materials like bound copies of early Updates (1987-2006).  The local history librarians Jennifer Madden and Courtney Simpson are excited to add these items to the library’s local history collection.

You can contact the library if you would like to go in and have a look at this fascinating historical material. The library plans to eventually digitize the collection so it can be accessible online. They also look forward to receiving historical material still held by other older Society members.

If you have anything of interest, please contact the library.

Thanks for making this happen Ute!

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