By Andrew Wood, Convenor, Blue Wren Subcommittee, Bulletin 9/2025, November
What is happening with Glebe’s Hill?
The Acting President, Duncan Leys, has written to the NSW Department of Environment asking whether Glebe’s Hill is listed by the NSW Government as a contaminated site. Members may recall that the Society’s recent freedom of information request located details of five contamination reports about the Hill in the City of Sydney’s archives. There are high levels of lead, other chemicals and bonded asbestos, sufficient for the site to be considered a soil contamination hotspot.
In correspondence from Councillors Matthew Thompson and Yvonne Weldon, we were told that the City has appointed a further Environment Consultant to provide advice about the current condition of the Hill and its ongoing management, including a review of the Society’s proposal that the site become a wildlife refuge. This review will take 6-9 months. Interestingly, the City has estimated that the cost of fully remediating the site by removing all contamination would be around $20 million; establishing a wildlife refuge would be a very small fraction of this amount!
City’s updated Significant Tree Register
The Society requested that an additional 12 trees/sites of multiple trees in Glebe and Forest Lodge be added to the register. The City included seven of our recommendations in the new register and declined five of them. It did not respond to our request to combine its lists of significant and heritage trees.
Annual spring bird survey
It was perfect weather on Sunday 19 October for an early morning bird survey. Seventeen people participated and reported several nests and young birds being fed. Three white-faced herons, a striated heron, and three willie wagtails were good sightings and most of our common birds were recorded. A full report will be available next month.
News from our bushcare volunteers
Judy Christie, leader of the Orphan School Creek Bushcare Group, reports that they’ve been working in the Wood Street Lands section of the Orphan School Creek Reserve for over 12 years. Unfortunately, this secluded site has been subject to ongoing malicious vandalism over the last three months. Ninety percent of seedlings planted in May this year have been removed or pulled up by their roots. Even the white tree guards surrounding the plants were removed. More mature shrubs planted in 2024 and earlier have now either been pulled out by their roots or pushed over and chopped down. The group will be discussing with Council what strategies can be undertaken to stop the vandalism.
Ros Vaughan, co-leader of the Glebe Palmerston and Surrounds Landcare Group, reports that our small group of keen bushcarers meets on the first Sunday of the month from 8 am to 9.30 am. The ‘bush’ garden is thriving except for a few bird’s nest ferns that seem to have been dug up and removed.
Liaison with the City of Sydney
Exciting news. Anna Szanto and I (the Blue Wren subcommittee co-convenors) met with Jen Beer (the City’s Community Greening, Gardens and Volunteer Coordinator) and Charlotte Fletcher (the City’s Urban Ecology Coordinator) on 24 September to plan the planting of 250 native plants of 16 species. We will work with two Apunga staff, the garden/bushcare maintenance contractors for the City, on Sunday 2 November from 8 to 10 am to do the planting. Anna and I will letterbox the streets close by and put up signs to see if we can get more community members than our usual 4 to 6 people to help with the planting. Hopefully we will be able to recruit more volunteers for our group.
Jen Beer will organise the installation of a storage cage for hoses, garden tools etc at the end of Keegan Ave near the tap in the park. Jen will also see if we can get some higher fencing to protect the garden from straying dogs and people. Alas, we failed to get Council approval to go through the long process of renaming the site with a Gadigal language name as the site has already had two names.
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