The Friends of
Shenton Bushland
Inc.
How will we find our wild hearts inside this city;
How will we find the deep peace?
A. Stevens
Bushland Activities page (blog)
Bushland Management Strategies
Newsletter archive:
Newsletter #31 January 2001
Season's greetings
A Happy New Year to all Friends, and thanks for Christmas cards received from Giz Watson, MLA; Nedlands City Council Technical Services; Greening Australia; and Bushtools.
Bushland news
Thursday morning bush regeneration activities
These will re-commence on 15 March with a bush breakfast and will continue on the third Thursday of each month. It should still be very pleasant making a 7 am start. From April onwards it will be a 9 am start. As well as being enjoyable social occasions and a chance to contribute to the management of Shenton Bushland, these sessions are also a time to learn from Kate Brown as she is offering training in bush regeneration.
Soldiers retreating
Kate Brown (project officer with the Environmental Weeds Action Network), with the support of the Friends, has run a 3 year trial on methods of controlling Lachenalia reflexa, the garden bulb introduced from South Africa and known as 'soldiers' which you may have noticed along the eastern path. The trial has involved a huge amount of work both in the field and analysing the results. Kate has analysed the effect of hand pulling the weed and herbicide treatment by sampling the presence of different plants in each plot at 200 points. Preliminary results suggest that herbicide treatment and hand pulling are effective in controlling soldiers. However, hand pulling resulted in the increase of other weeds such as Hypochaeris glabra (flat weed). Herbicide treatment did not affect native perennial herbs or shrubs, nor result in a marked increase in other weeds. While the trial was being conducted, veld grass was controlled all throughout this area by the spraying of a grass-selective herbicide. Its effectiveness was striking as no veld grass seedlings at all were present after the second year of spraying.
Laundry soak?
We wonder if any of you who have walked Shenton Bushland for many years know the origin of the depressed area north-west of Lemons Hospital between the eastern path and the wire fence. Dr Neville Hills, who had a long association with the hospital, thinks that it could possibly have been the soak for the old laundry. It still collects some moisture which supports a luxuriant growth of kikuyu.
Community news
Our new neighbour
Shenton College was open for public inspection on Saturday 16 December and drew huge crowds. Dorothy and Janice attended and distributed the Shenton Bushland brochure until we ran out of the 340 we had with us. We have made several small alterations to the original brochure and photocopied it ourselves, having exhausted the printed version.
The garden beds within the courtyards have been planted up with the usual range of species favoured by landscapers. The only really disturbing species is Dietes sp (of the iris family) which is in a bed very near to the natural bushland.
According to a CALM botanist this is an environmental weed disaster just waiting to happen. Perhaps if, in the future, the Friends are able to cooperate in the management of the bushland within the college grounds, we will be able to provide a replacement species.
A long-time Friend of Shenton Bushland and member of the Wildflower Society has raised her concern about the vulnerability of the bushland on the corner of Lemnos and Selby Streets as there is no physical barrier between it and the pathway leading up to the buildings. As she has written to the Principal we will await a reply. The Friends and Nedlands' Bushcare Officer have met with the school based police officer, First Class Constable Nick Steel.
We walked the area behind Selby Lodge to just past the holding pond where the college grounds adjoin Shenton Bushland. Nick invited us to contact him if we have any concerns about student behaviour in the reserve. His mobile is 0410 300 732. Just as we rely on the whole community to dial 000 if smoke is spotted, we rely on everyone to ensure that the bushland is used appropriately. Do not hesitate to contact Constable Nick Steel.
On a wider stage
A paper may be presented at the state Landcare conference in September based on the experience of Shenton Bushland. An abstract has been submitted by Kate Brown and Janice Marshall entitled 'Partnerships for Managing a Regionally Significant Bushland'. It reads as follows: Looking after our remnant bushland requires detailed knowledge and understanding of the conservation values of a particular remnant, a high level of technical skills with a scientific approach to bushland restoration and an ongoing commitment that is consistent over time. With resources being so limited for bushland management, often the only way to meet such requirements is through effective partnerships. In August 1998, the Friends of Shenton Bushland, the Environmental Weeds Action Network and the City of Nedlandsformed such a partnership. After three seasons in Shenton Bushland, the distribution of the serious weeds has been recorded and management programs implemented. Replicated trials investigating the control of Lachenalia reflexa and impacts of the control program on native flora have been completed. Monitoring is in place to quantify the effectiveness of veld grass and watsonia control programs, and a weed herbarium for the bushland has been compiled. Bush regeneration training sessions to share knowledge and experience gathered with others involved in bush regeneration are run on a monthly basis.
Ecoplan ten years old
Ecoplan is the Department of Environmental Protection's program to support community involvement in bushland conservation. The Friends of Shenton Bushland have benefited greatly from this source of information and support, in particular from the annual Bush Care days when Ecoplan facilitates access to the Australian Trust for Conservation Volunteers and the lunchtime sausage sizzle by Alinta Gas. Ecoplan is planning a celebration on Friday 6 April - showcasing achievements in the afternoon and holding a function for volunteers in the evening. If you are an associate from the past, Ecoplan is particularly keen to contact you. Anyone wanting to be included should call Kelly on 9222 8649 to leave your name and address.
Grant applications
Funding for honours students to survey fauna
We have requested funding from the Gordon Reid Foundation for Conservation, Lotteries WA, for honours students to survey the invertebrate flora. Hopefully this valuable work will be able to take place next summer.
Funding for bulbous weed control
We have also requested funding from the Minister for the Environment through the Community Conservation Grants programme. This time it is not for veld grass control, although this is still a very pressing issue, but for the control of bulbous weeds, particularly freesias, black flag (Ferraria crispa) and soldiers, all of which have been sprayed in small patches over the past two years with promising results.
Funding for a meeting place in the bushland
We are keen to get feedback from members on our application for funding under the International Year of Volunteers to create a meeting place within the bushland.
A meeting place is specified in the management plan for the bushland. Our idea is to create a seating area for up to 35 people where volunteers such as parents, teachers, naturalists and Friends, can speak about the values of the bushland to a class of school children or any other gathering of people.
The site selected is about 50 m south of the Lemnos Street notice board. It is a grassy patch approximately 9 metres in diameter close to some large jarrah and tuart trees and pleasantly surrounded by balgas and other shrubs.
If you been to the Perth Zoo recently, you will know of the artificial rock work throughout, both granite and limestone. The creator of this is keen to work with us (for minimum labour charges) to develop a simulated limestone area out of which two semi-circular 'outcrops' will appear and which will provide the seating.
We want to minimize the impact, both physically and visually, and ensure that the end product will look as natural as possible. There will also be a plaque celebrating the efforts of volunteers from 1992 to 2000 and recognizing the support received from the media (in particular POST Newspapers), all levels of government, business and the community.
If you have any concerns about this, please come to the next meeting on January 18 or contact one of us before then. If you support the project you may wish to help reduce the cost (the quotes exceed the grant limit of $5 000 by $1000).
One way to save $200 is to give us unwanted, used shade
cloth; another way is to help, on the day of construction, by wheel-barrowing
concrete the 100m from the entrance to the site. Also, if you can persuade
any business to contribute to this project (concrete, steel mesh and rods
- or cash!), please let us know - Dani on 9381 3470 and Janice on 9381
1479. 
Point of View
from Dani Boase-Jelinek
Public consultations on Underwood Avenue Bushland
The community may soon have three opportunities to comment on plans by UWA to subdivide the Underwood Avenue Bushland.
- The first opportunity is the EPA environmental assessment. The University has already advertised for public comment on the level of assessment (closes 2nd February). This will be followed (hopefully) by a public consultation on the actual proposal.
- The second opportunity is the Nedlands Council public consultation period on planning approval for the subdivision proposal. This is expected to begin following the next meeting of council (23rd January).
- The third opportunity may arise with the structure planning process being run by the Ministry for Planning for the area surrounding the Subiaco Waste Water Treatment Plant. This is your opportunity to have a say about what happens to that whole region.
Some points to raise in writing your submission could include issues such as:
- the importance of Underwood Avenue in the corridor between Kings Park and Bold Park,
- the Underwood Avenue Bushland is home to a breeding pair of Little Eagles, and this is one of the few places where eagles live so close to the centre of a city,
- the bushland is within a buffer zone protecting the community from the costs and hazards of allowing people to live too close to a sewage treatment plant, and
- the bushland could become an animal sanctuary and bushland research site.
Send your letters to: Sylvia Lang, University of Western Australia, Nedlands, 6009. Submissions must be in by 2nd February 2001. Contact Dani (9381 3470) or Kim (9381 6002) for more information.
Next meeting
The next meeting will be on Thursday 18 January (we have changed to the odd months for this year) at 7.30 pm at 2/233 Hensman Road, Shenton Park. PS: Do you recognize the bushland in the advertisement on the back cover of this year's Perth International Arts Festival programme?
This newsletter is produced by the Friends of Shenton Bushland. Contributions by Janice Marshall and Daniel Boase-Jelinek.