Friends of Sandy Creek
Phone 07 3371 9355 or Email
Report on the first walk
14 July 2003
Well we had the first walk .. very enjoyable but more importantly, wonderful to meet other concerned and dedicated people with similar ideas and concerns ...
So we'll try for another walk ... suggest some dates ...
The timing is interesting as there is so much to discuss that even if we started earlier ... I feel sure we would not finish any earlier ... so 3pm is about right!
We could also do the next trip in the reverse direction eg starting at Mansfield Park in Gilgandra Street?
The "survivors" were the beneficiaries of a pleasant walk through the golf course at about 5.30pm ... sun gone and getting cool ... but a reminder of what a peaceful and pleasant resource this asset really is, not just the golf course but the margins and the river and the remains of Sir John Chandler Park
...
I have had a number of RSVPs (thank you) with requests for a repeat ... so send in the suggestions.
Several also forwarded information etc ... thanks for that.
It is clear that there are a number of important issues but perhaps the most important at this stage, we don't want or need a repeat of "the fence" style of management and consultation...!
We don't want or need the Council or golf course staff to bring in the bulldozers or the large or small area poison techniques ...! And there is already evidence of that happening already!
What we do want is a "partnership" with Council and the golf course management so that "we" are responsible for managing this potentially exemplary asset ... in an exemplary manner.
And we also need to focus beyond the golf course ... to issues like the spread of weeds and garden plants by illegal and irresponsible dumping and enriching the waterways when people hose their lawn clippings, top soil, leaves and dog-do from their lawns and paved areas down the gutters and into the stormwater system, ... and the building works with symbolic silt controls that allow large volumes of silt into the creek and river. It all ends up in Moreton Bay....!
One participant reports sighting of over 80 species of birds in the golf course and margins ... and the recently replanted areas are doing very well ...!
The precinct comprising the Sandy Creek catchment and the golf course and margins is a city if not regional asset ... in our area ... we should be able to "have a say" ... indeed more than just "a say", an opportunity to participate, in how it is managed for the long term!
Michael Yeates
Acting Convenor
Friends of Sandy Creek