Clean Up Australia Day (CUAD)

Yural Reserve CUAD

The CPPA will be Cleaning Up our patch of Aus on Sunday 1st March, 9-10:30am meeting at Yural Reserve. We’ll be collecting large rubbish items that have been dumped in local reserves and relocating them to Yural along with the three abandoned boats in the reserve, ready for Council to pick up. If you think an abandoned dinghy would make a good sand-pit or veggie garden pop by and investigate or check the CPPA website for pictures, especially if you think it might be your abandoned dinghy! RSVP here.

Plodders Unite!

Can we all do a little extra on CUAD? Whilst out walking, take a collection bag and do some plodding – picking up litter as you walk – it adds another dimension to the daily walk with a bit of bending and for those doing a foreshore ramble, there’s always plastics a plenty to pick up.

Greenway CUAD

The TASNG will be hosting a Clean Up event on the Greenway from Carey St to Cook St and out along Stoney Ck on SATURDAY February 29 between 8-10am. The meeting point will be at the Cook St end of the Greenway. RSVP online

Cant’t get enough of the Clean Up warm & fuzzies?

Twice a year the CPPA crew give the Hall a bit of a clean up, the timing coincides with the council clean ups in case there are items to relinquish. We do it because Progress Hall is owned by the Progress Association, it is truly our community's asset.

All are welcome, especially regular hall users, to come along and lend a hand on Sunday 15 Mar 9:30-11:30, there's always something to do.

Local Landcaring

 A new Landcare site in our area on the corner of  Hampton and Jabiru Streets, will have it's first Green Team day on 18/4/11. This beautiful little remnant is a reminder of the variety which can exist right at our backdoor.

On  May 16th Yural reserve at the northern end of Laycock Street will be getting a makeover, with the support of the Green Team and thanks to funding from the Hunter Water Landcare Assistance Fund. A mulched garden bed will be created and a BBQ lunch will be provided.

Jason Harvey as been appointed as the new Landcare Coordinator for LMCC commencing 2 May 2011. Jason has strong local connections and we wish him well in his new role.

LMCC’s Community Ecosystem Monitoring program involves Council staff, and volunteers, surveying bushland areas (owned by Council,) across the City to provide a measure of the health of different bushland vegetation communities.

Community Ecosystem Monitoring
The reserve at end of Stansfield Close, Coal Point, is one of the 50 sites that will be surveyed on Wednesday 20 April from 9am-12noon.

The survey records both native and exotic species within the plot, medium and large trees, regeneration of canopy species, hollow bearing trees canopy cover and evidence of wildlife. 

Contact Robyn Gill for more details if you would like to participate on any of the days.

YURAL RESERVE

At the northern end of Laycock Street is Yural Reserve. This small reserve is a great place to sit and watch the world and the yachts pass by.

During the sailing season Yural is a great vantage point for most of the action on a fair bit of the lake.

Thanks to LMCC there is also now a table for eating off and a bench for sitting on so you can plan a full picturesque picnic.

If you’d rather sit on the grass in the shade there is some of that as well on the foreshore, below the bank and adjacent to the cul-de-sac behind the pipe fence.

The western end of this reserve has easy access in to the Lake if you like to splash about, and don’t mind walking through a few types seagrasses.

As with all Lake swimming though, beware of rocks, razor fish, blue ringed octopus and sea urchins, who also like the lake and call it home. Happy International Year of Biodiversity!

Around the Reserves

The Carey Bay Wetlands has been a focus of activity recently with a National Tree Day planting and an inspection from Keep Australia Beautiful-Tidy Towns-Sustainable Communities Assessor.

National Tree Day was  tree-mendous  with 140 plants making it into the ground with time enough left over to do a bit of maintenance on previous year’s plantings. This was the 5th year of planting out the bygone Blackberry briar and there was a celebratory flavour to the day with a BBQ feast provided by Joe’s Meat Market, Toronto Square and morning tea and lunchtime pastries and bread provided by Bakers Delights to keep the energy levels up. The site had been well prepared by local Landcarers with assistance from the Landcare Resource Office. All in all a very satisfying morning.

Lots of Action at Birriban-The long awaited fish cleaning table is under construction at Birriban reserve.

Ambrose Street and Yural Reserves will be the focus reserves for September with additional help  on September 10th provided by the Landcare Office.