Thank you to Stephen Thatcher (HRLN President) and Clare Shrimpton (Dungog Commoners Landcare) for the information in this report.
As part of Landcare Week celebrations last month, an informative and enjoyable bus trip took 50 landcarers from various Hunter landcare groups to three sites around Lake Macquarie. The event was co-organised by Lake Macquarie Landcare and Hunter Region Landcare Network as a fun day out to enable friendship and networking between landcarers across the region.
The first stop was Kennedy Creek, a site that has been cared for by the students of St Mary’s Catholic College, Gateshead for almost 20 years. Students and teachers have transformed a drainage creek into a wonderful native habitat through a labour of love. This has required continuous removal of Ipomoea indica (Morning Glory).
The next stop-off was Cold Tea Creek. This connects to the culturally significant Belmont Lagoon and includes a section of the Fernleigh Awabakal Shared Track (FAST). The site demonstrated the impacts of truly effective cooperation between Lake Macquarie Council, Landcare and local residents.
The final call was the Pelican Blacksmiths sites with a 3km walk around the tracks and beach front areas. These included the historical Grannies Pool, which the local group has been rehabilitating for many years. The main focus here was the removal of Chrysanthemoides monilifera (Bitou bush) and Rumex sagittatus (Turkey Rhubarb).
Clare Shrimpton from Dungog Commoners Landcare commented “It was a real treat to see the work other groups are doing and hear about the type of problems they have. The similarities between the issues experienced by us and those of other groups didn’t surprise us. One of the challenges across all three sites was the need for cooperation and communication between all stakeholders such as, the local Councils, individuals, user groups and Landcare groups at each site.”
HRLN plans to run another tour next year to help connect like-minded Landcarers across the Hunter. If you have any suggestions, please get in touch.
Perhaps you couldn’t make the bus trip but are interested to learn more. Lake Macquarie Landcare is a partnership between the Lake Macquarie Landcare Volunteer Network Inc., Lake Macquarie City Council and more than 200 Landcare groups. Local groups are supported through the Landcare and Sustainable Living Centre, umali barai-ku. For more information, see: Lake Macquarie Landcare – Lake Macquarie Landcare