Coal Point Progress Landcare

Coal Point Progress Association Landcare is a small, dedicated group of landcarers who are happy to welcome and provide training to new members. We meet every Thursday 8am-12pm, rotating around our local reserves

According to the  Awabakal seasonal calendar we are at the end of the hot dry time of the year and looking forward to cooler weather with some rain. The kararkarmatara (banksia) is a common flowering plant on Awabakal Country during wunal (summer). The kararkarmatara exudes a rich nectar from its muraban (flowers), and it was common practice among Aboriginal people to enjoy its sweet taste. At Landcare we enjoy spotting the flowers and watching the pollinators at work. The Banksia serrata (Old man banksia) is the one in flower to look out for now. 

We also spend a lot of energy working on eradicating weeds to give the native plants room to grow. A sleeper weed that is awakening at the moment is the formidable Formosa lily. It looks pretty, with its bold white trumpet flowers, has a fun seed capsule that makes a great rattling sound and the seeds are flung far when shaken. This makes them very attractive to pick and play with while walking through the bush. But today’s fun is tomorrow’s bane of the bush and the rapid increase in Formosa lily numbers is a problem.

Our botanically enthusiastic landcarer, Ros Cornish, conducted an experiment to observe germination of the “scales” from the Formosa lily bulbs. She evenly spaced 50 scales in a seed tray containing potting mix, and covered them with soil.

After a few weeks there was some evidence of germination with a few thin leaves visible. Two months later leaves were quite visible on the germinated scales with 60% germination.

What was interesting, disturbing and unexpected, was that several plants germinated from the one scale!

In the wild this possibly explains why there can seem to be a few plants close together when we weed.

The twinning of the Formosa lily was on display at the February landcare session on the the old water tank site on West Ridge, where Nico was dwarfed by the monster twin-lily (The Lily flower and seed pod are not to scale). 

After years of methodically removing Formosa lily flowers from our bushland the odd plant or two still manages to emerge over summer. If the flower gets pollinated hundreds of seeds form, get blown on the wind and the process continues.

The flower buds are forming now and it’s time to get this garden escapee out of the bush. If you like cut flowers feel free to collect this ornamental and scented flower and take it home, just leave enough of the stalk so the landcarers can remove the garlic like bulb.

If you’d like to have a go at removing the whole plant to give the bush a breather there’s an instructional video that the local landcarers put together on the website- Formosa foe not friend.

There’s lots of information about our Landcare sites and the calendar on our website https://coalpointprogress.blogspot.com/p/guardian-group-information.html

Want to join us?
If you would like to receive weekly emails about where we are landcaring and what we will be doing? email  Ros cppalandcare@gmail.com 

Not in our backyard! - Landcaring with Lois

At this time of year, it seems appropriate to revisit our notes on a serious bushland invasion. The copious rainfall of the last year or so has brought a lovely lush growth to our bushland. Unfortunately, the weed invaders have also made the most of it too.

One weed, in particular, has thrived to the point where we will shortly see its white blooms blanketing our city in never-before-seen numbers.

Throughout the cool months, these aggressive invaders have been lying in wait underground, in the form of a garlic-like bulb.

In spring the new green stalks grow surreptitiously among surrounding greenery, but by January it is difficult not to notice the tall, waving trumpet-shaped white flowers of the elegant Taiwan (or Formosa) Lily along roadsides, in the bush and in gardens.

Before summer is gone, hundreds of tissue light seeds will burst from their pods and be carried by the breeze to further surrounding bushland, backyards, and gardens.

Unfortunately, these weeds have no enemies in the world of nature and can proliferate unimpeded. Thank goodness for the many local residents who have been working hard to arrest their spread.

One reported that the goal of a lily-free garden was in sight, executed a few at a time over a period of weeks. Action such as this is so heartening because our Landcare teams cannot fight this battle alone.

Removing the complete bulb requires care as each scale of the bulb will form a new plant if dropped. When I dig them up, I cut off the flower stem and zap the bulbs in an old spare microwave.

Otherwise, it is best to bag them and put them into the landfill garbage bin. Just cutting off the flowers before they seed will slow their progress for at least this year.

A handy picture guide to removal can be viewed online at  or on the CPPA website 

(Just a reminder, too, while the secateurs are out, to snip the seed heads from finished Agapanthus to prevent unwanted new young plants.)

The elegant Formosa Lily does have an innocuous look-alike in the beautiful November Lily. The greatest difference is the November Lily’s contentment in staying right where it has been planted!

Umali barai-ku (to do for the earth), the new Landcare and Sustainable Living Centre officially opens on 2 February with a month-long program of festivities throughout February. Visit the Lake Macquarie Landcare website to view the whole program. 

Progress Parlance

Bush Blocks – A new beginning

The flurry of February activity to garner pledges of support for the 20 Laycock Street, whilst not successful in securing the site, was in fact a success in showing local support for such a project.

It is acknowledged that there were shortfalls in the process: not enough time, background knowledge, nor detail. In spite of this there were 17 pledges made totalling $47,120. Considering the 48 hour timeframe this was very inspiring and genuinely appreciated.

Many of those that pledged have rolled over their pledge as a show of ongoing support for the project. As the concept is more fully explained and direction and new opportunities arise, the pledges will provide a barometer of our community’s capacity to undertake a collaborative housing project. You can pledge support for the ongoing project at   https://hub.benojo.com/connect/org/coalpointprogress/campaigns/progress-posterity-pledge-now

The CPPA committee has endorsed further exploration of the collaborative housing concept and an invitation is warmly extended to anyone interested in joining a project team to develop a project plan with defined objectives and a crystal clear mission within our geographical area. Contact Suzanne to get involved coalpointprogress@gmail.com.

Seeking a hall booking coordinator

Feel like volunteering a small amount of time throughout the year to coordinate the bookings at our Hall? The job involves keeping a calendar of bookings, showing interested parties the hall and processing the paperwork, taking about 1 to 2 hours a week on average. Contact Ian Dennison to find out more 0412 083 130

Muso’s musings

The CPPA is willing to support and encourage a regular social jam session at Progress hall with the intention of having a musical event as a regular Progress activity in the future. If you’ve got musical ability and are interested in making music contact Suzanne and we can get together, see what’s possible and look for suitable times.

Can we be plastic free?

The Toronto cafés and about 35 other cafés around Lake Macquarie have had the strong bamboo reusable coffee cups for a month now for only $2. With the COVID concerns about handling now addressed, it’s considered safe to use reusable coffee cups. With 2.5 million takeaway cups going to landfill in Australia each day, the TASNG team are keen to get Toronto back on track and heading towards being a plastic-free community. Later in the year it is hoped to support coffee trucks and fastfood restaurants with the reusable cups initiative.

Formosa’s getting hard to find!

We’re not popping the corks yet...but it won’t be too long. Well done, Coal Pointians, on great progress in eliminating the elegant but evil Formosa lily.

We’ve noticed a significant drop in number this year, indicating that far fewer seeds have been spread along our beautiful bush ridge.

That success is in no small part due to each one of you who has kept an eye out since last summer and dug out that horrible bulb, or at least removed the flower head before it seeded.

If we can keep up this rate of reduction, soon will come a summer when we’re down to a handful of sightings.

Watch for them in your yard. And feel free to remove them from our bush reserves if you can. If we get down to five floral fiends we’re all celebrating! ...and it will be well-deserved.

Landcare...good for your well-being

Weekly landcaring is back in full swing with 141hr of bushland regeneration already undertaken in January. It’s easy to see how 1982hr were achieved in the past year. The social and dedicated group have an inexhaustible passion which they are happy to share.
World Wetlands Day didn’t go by unnoticed, a productive landcare session was held at Puntei Creek Reserve, the new name for the landcare site previously known as Carey Bay Wetlands, and part of the larger Puntei Park.

In case you didn’t think landcaring was good for you, a 2019 study by the University of Exeter found spending at least two hours a week in nature may be a crucial threshold for promoting health and wellbeing. Dr Mat White, of the University of Exeter Medical School, who led the study, said: "It's well known that getting outdoors in nature can be good for people's health and wellbeing but until now we've not been able to say how much is enough. The majority of nature visits in this research took place within just two miles of home so even visiting local urban greenspaces seems to be a good thing. Two hours a week is hopefully a realistic target for many people, especially given that it can be spread over an entire week to get the benefit."

Landcare sessions are anytime from 8am till noon on Thursdays.

Can you find a Formosa Lily?

Local landcaring legend Lois has this to say…How lucky we are to have so many neighbours who support efforts in ecological restoration and management. The tossing of rubbish or garden refuse into our reserves is so rare and damage is so minimal the odd truck tyre or bicycle rims hardly dents our smile, and with a heave-ho to Clean Up Australia Day they went, along with an abandoned dinghy.

But today's excitement is about one particular milestone. As I walked along Coal Point ridge, I found just one Formosa lily to dig out. Just one! Over the years, locals have been looking out for this virulent pest, slowing its spread and removing it from their patch. Perseverance is paying off. Of course, the war is not won, but I feel we are almost there. Hurrah, Coal Point! Our little part of the world is in good hands.
A handy picture guide to removal is available for viewing below... just cutting off the flowers before they seed will stop their spread.

Formosa Lily is about to bloom

After years of methodical removal of Formosa lily flowers from our bushland the odd plant or two still manages to emerge over summer. If the flower gets pollinated hundreds of seeds form, get blown on the wind and the process continues.

The flower buds are forming now and it’s time to crack-on and get this garden escape out of the bush. If you like cut flowers feel free to collect this ornamental and scented flower and take it home, just leave enough of the stalk so the landcarers can remove the garlic like bulb.

If you’d like to have a go at removing the whole plant to give the bush a breather there’s an instructional video that the local landcarers put together on the website- Formosa foe not friend.

Formosa Lily- Elegant but Evil

The Formosa (Taiwan) Lily is again raising its beautiful but wicked head along Coal Point and in many gardens and backyards. 

This white weed is choking out native vegetation in many bushland areas around Lake Macquarie and spreads at an amazing rate. 

Hand weeding is the best option for home gardeners. Remove the bulb, taking care not to leave any bulb scales in ground. You may have to remove some of the surrounding soil to catch small bulb-lets that break away from the parent plant. At the very least, cut down the flowering stem before the plant sets seed, as the hundreds of papery seeds in each flower can travel quite a distance. 

A big bunch of Formosa flowers makes a very attractive floral arrangement and prevents the seed set.

Locals Lois Simpson and John Sharples have compiled a handy picture guide to removal which can also be viewed below. 
There is a Grow Me Instead guide which offers up some non invasive alternatives. 
Burkes Backyard did an exposé on the weed as well.

The 'movie' above has a new slide every 10 seconds...lots of time to contemplate the issue

Monthly Landcare Update- Robyn Gill

Landcaring in May has been largely West Ridge month enjoying the amazing diversity of the new plants coming up after the rain. We’ve been tackling the regrowth of Ground

Acacia podalyrifolia- Weed Wattle

Asparagus before it seeds and the “weed wattles”/ Queensland Silver Wattles/ Acacia podalyrifolia – which are producing their usual crop of small seedlings and are spreading rapidly all around the area at the expense of the “locals”.

A further sweep for Formosan Lily showed that our earlier efforts are thankfully showing good results as these too are a serious problem around the lake with their thousands of papery seeds.

With five Thursdays in the month of May we’ve also been able to do some “catch up” at Carey Bay Wetland, Burnage and Yarul Reserves where growth of Farmers’ Friends/ Cobbler’s Pegs/Hitchhikers has been phenomenal after the rain.

Formosa Lily- It's fragile 'garlic like' bulb
requires care to remove it all

The Formidable Formosa Lilly

One of the sleeper weeds that is awakening at the moment is Formosa Lily.
It looks pretty, has a fun seed capsule that makes a great rattling sound and the seeds are far flung when shaken...this makes them very attractive to pick and play with while walking through the bush. But today’s fun is tomorrow’s bane of the bush and the rapid increase in Formosa lilly is a problem.

Like any weed it has the potential to replace the natives . Our biodiversity is our legacy and landcaring is about keeping it local.

If you want to do your bit for the bush feel free to pick the flowers and take them home, pick the seed pods and take them home to play with.

Please don’t scatter the seed in the bush. This is a very difficult weed to control.

If you want to remove the whole plant the roots are an underground bulb, like garlic and quite fiddly, you’ll need a trowel and then bag it up and get it out of the bush.

Landcare Report - Robyn Gill

Our Landcare hours in August and September have been taken up with our usual spring game of “hunt the planting” among the weeds where the white tipped stakes are a great help. The growth of the plantings has been very encouraging and we’re now hurrying to make room for some more replacing of weeds before it is too hot and dry. 

Our other major blitz is on the Formosa Lily that is spreading like wildfire in the whole lake area carrying a formidable amount of seed per head (there can be 14 of these heads on one stalk) that fly off in the breeze. We have set up test areas to try to find the best ways of dealing with the plant as they are a fairly recent challenge. We are following up on our last year’s approach, which seems promising but not yet proven. http://sydneyweeds.org.au/weed/formosa-lily/
 
Ecosystem Site Monitoring was carried out for the second time at Stansfield Reserve as part of a council programme with a professional leader and a group of experienced and knowledgeable volunteers. It is a careful way of checking on the state of our natural areas by returning at regular intervals to a measured and recorded small area to count the number and variety of trees and plants, both native and exotic, fallen logs, tree hollows and any evidence of insects, birds, fauna etc. 

We saw a tiny possum in the same tree hollow where it was photographed last year but this year it had more sense than to be inquisitive and show itself in the opening. Perhaps it had had a big night and was too sleepy.

We also watched a Kookaburra moving in and out of its nest inside a large termite’s nest high up in tree.

Asparagus Fern is marching on at a frightening pace but native plants continue to resist its advance until it is too thick. It has this year been declared a Weed Of National Significance that will hopefully result in some more assistance with its control.
 

Landcaring often brings up surprises. Last year kangaroo poo at Stansfield Close reserves, more recently a nest of eggs at Burnage Reserve. They look like hen’s eggs, they seem fresh.  Investigations are underway to see if a local native bird may be involved. Have you lost a chook or heard the happy cackling?

Pedestrian Options & Accessways

Thanks again for the feedback on the various accessways around the community. Apologies for any distress caused to adjacent neighbours in the quest for clarification.
The amended access information will be supplied to LMCC for any further investigation as part of the ongoing process to get up to date local information available on how to traverse the area by foot.
The Toronto Area Sustainable Neighbourhood Group -Cycling and Pedestrian Group met in March and are trying to gather some local information about why people cycle and how to get more people engaged in this healthy lifestyle option.
A short online survey has been put together to gather your thoughts.
If you'd like more information about the is group please contact group leader Tony Stephens- stay@bellchapel.com.au phone 4959 8811 or
Nico Marcar- nico.marcar@gmail.com

Feedback on Pedestrian options

Thank you for the feedback on the ‘accessways’ that were presented in the December Chronicle. Local knowledge and history is a great untapped resource in our a community, the information was all very useful.

The online version of the Chronicle included google maps to assist in locating the areas and will be updated to include the comments that were received.
The CPPA Committee meeting on Monday 6th February will be reviewing the feedback.

Footpath Strategy

A separate footpath strategy is being developed in the next 12 months, which will provide detailed information on where footpath will be installed in the Council area.

Whilst there may not be a lot of footpath in our area there are quite a few access points that link road to lake or road to road that many people may not know about.
 
The Progress Association has been investigating what access ways may still be viable within our community to increase walking options. The hope is to increase awareness and get better signage so their existence is obvious and passable.
 
Local maps have been scrutinized for pathways and access points, the locations identified and photographed. A community meeting was held and the access options discussed and prioritised.
 
The aim is to provide the location information in a community brochure. If you would like to further discuss any of these locations please contact Suzanne on 4959 6741 or by email coalpointprogress@gmail.com
 
The CPPA is keen to talk to anyone who knows any of the history or information about the ‘lines on the map’ that we have identified.  
 
First priority is to address the Operational land zoning on 83-85 Skye Point Rd as this is seen as a vital access point into the publicly owned lands on the West Ridge, a great walking spot through local bushland with spectacular views.

A note on the links to the locations: The links will take you to the approximate location we are trying to explain. The photo is of what is visible from the road.

The next priority is to pursue signage at the following locations:
 
40A Ambrose St, next to the service station and where access to the lake is possible beside the caravan park.
 

Angela Close (12-14) to highlight the path to 
the Pony Club
 

Angela Close (32-19) providing access to the Carey Bay shops
 

Watkins Way, a track linking Coal Point (236-238 CPR) and Skye Point Road (221-223)
 

 Grant Road between 11 and 13- a grassy path to the Lake
 

The next priority is improved identification and working towards improving the access is proposed for the following locations:
 
The obscured access between 26-28 Coal Point Road that provides a link to the Quarterdeck (14-16) through public reserve.
 

Killara Close  (11-13) Improve the access that was impacted by the building of the ‘new’ house
 

Skye Point Rd (263-261) to 259 Coal Point Rd & Threlkeld Reserve, an unmarked and unobvious easement.

Two other areas needing more information are
142A-144 Skye Point Rd
44A Skye Point Rd 

Pedestrian Patter

The issue of footpaths in our area is one which the Progress Association has been trying to address for many years. In 1996 the CPPA surveyed the local community on the issues of footpaths, reserves, The Ridge and environmental issues (erosion and sedimentation). There were 444 responses to the hand delivered and collected surveys.

There was overwhelming agreement that the current state of footpaving in our area was inadequate (89%). It was not surprising therefore that 93% felt something should be done about it. The suggestion that footpaths unite the community was supported by 66% of the respondents, who also agreed that footpaths were a basic right of rate payers (87%)

The local community forum held in June to identify the current issues and discuss a way forward was a productive session. The issues were grouped into Safety, Equity and Responsibility.

Safety

• The population is ageing, attempts to exercise and keep active are compromised by uneven footing on ill defined tracks.
• The safety of active members of the community with bikes, prams or dogs is compromised by having to use the narrow roads and at night the poor lighting creates an additional hazard.
• The narrow verges that can provide some pedestrian options are often compromised by parking of vehicles and vegetation interferes with sight lines and accessibility in some areas.

Responsibility- LMCC.

• Opinions were expressed about Council holding the legal responsibility to ensure community safety, especially given recent promotion “Walk Safely To School Day”. 

Equity amongst ratepayer for community services.

• Considering the significant number of lots that have been subdivided over recent years, the rateable income from this community is considerable for the number of people living here, with some subdivided lots generating almost $5000/annum. There appears to be a lack of improvement in services for rates contributed by this area.

As with all good discussions there were some actions suggested which ranged from seeking legal, RTA and council advice to one way traffic, civil disobedience and boycotting rates.
 
One agreed upon goal is to get a whole of community petition signed and presented to the local Councillors at a public meeting. The petition would state “We the undersigned request urgent implementation of action to address pedestrian accessibility and safety issues resulting from lack of footpaths and around Coal Point peninsular."
 
Information gathering was also needed to prioritise identification of lengths of road where no footpaths exist and where footpaths could be designated and investigate new community walking routes.
 
Pedestrian accessibility around our community is one issue which will only get worse over time as the quest for increased health through activity is compromised by increased subdivisions generating increased population and the resultant traffic increase.
 
If you have expertise and an interest in joining a small group of progress people to pursue this issue please contact one of the committee or email coalpointprogress@gmail.com.
coalpointprogress@gmail.com

A Walkable neighbourhood?

The Coal Point area is a beautiful place with a long history. Over time there have been many tracks created to and through the bushland reserves and numerous points made to access the waterfront. Some are council owned therefore public access ways for community use and others have drainage purposes.

The location of these various places can be a bit of a mystery to those who are new to the area and so there is a project afoot to put together an up-to-date map with the locations of these obscure locations on it so that the community can enjoy all that our area has to offer. This would help to make our community more walkable and support requests to council to assist with identification.

Do you know of any access points of interest?

Do you have any thoughts about letting the rest of the community know?

Do you have any issues you would like to discuss?

The 2nd November monthly meeting, 7-9pm at Progress Hall,197 Skye Point Rd, Coal Point, will discuss this project and is keen to gather the thoughts of the community. If you know a bit of the local history or any mystery locations, or have a picture to include we’d love to hear from you.