Friends of Bungala River – Update December 2022

1. After the public meeting early this year an agreement with Yankalilla District Council was made for the FOBR group to work on the stretch of the Bungala River (Bungala Park) from Hay Flat Road to South Road and for a section of Salt Creek from the Bungala junction upstream into sections of the New Horizon sub-division (map provided for circulation). The Hills and Fleurieu Landscape Board then provided insurance cover for signed-in volunteer activities.

2. A core Committee of five members has been formed. Jane Power, Matt Robertson, Lyndall Booth, Wayne Gibbs and Neil Phillips. Maddie Maguire and Corey Jackson have sat in advisory roles.

3. Three Committee meetings have been since September. Monthly meetings on the second Monday of each have now been scheduled, and the third meeting is due Monday 12.12.22.

4. An Action Plan Table has been established and will be updated at each meeting (example copy provided, below). This document will act as both the agenda and a record and/or minutes of each meeting as well as a means of tracking progress.

5. Two Working Bees were held on the 4^th November and 3^rd December 2022 with 9 and then 11 volunteers attending. A fixed program is still being worked on to void clashes with other environmental group activities. Two committee members are enrolled for First Aid training.

6. The Working Bees included orientation for new volunteers and focused on the maintenance of tree guards and juvenile plantings by clearing weeds competing vegetation. Larger weed infestations such as Olives, Briar Rose, Domestic Rose, Fennel etc were mapped and provided to Corey Jackson for treatment by contractors. An assessment of successful plantings is being undertaken to provide baseline information for next year’s planting season.

7. In preparation for forming the Friends of Bungala Matt and Jane completed summary documents and a presentation on the existing research and management history. Those documents will provide the foundation for setting strategic objectives and work plans currently being developed.

8. Some of the Committee members have attended land management field trips to Brad Page’s Yaccalilla Restoration Project on Willow Creek, Paul Green’s Permaculture property, and a Hills and Fleurieu Landscape Board’s Watercourse Management session to Salt Creek. All very valuable exercises.

images by Gwynneth Blundell

Neil Phillips

04.12.2022