Pittwater Natural Heritage Association's (PNHA) 30th Anniversary lunch and 2024 AGM took place at Katandra Bushland Sanctuary Ingleside on Sunday October 13 2024. The celebration included a Guided walk in this wonderful place.
About PNHA
With urbanisation, there are continuing pressures that threaten the beautiful natural environment of Pittwater. Some impacts are immediate and apparent, others are more gradual and less obvious.
The Pittwater Natural Heritage Association has been formed to act to protect and preserve the Pittwater areas major and most valuable asset - its natural heritage.
PNHA is an incorporated association seeking broad based community membership and support to enable it to have an effective and authoritative voice speaking out for the preservation of Pittwater's natural heritage.
It is a member of the Pittwater Community Alliance. Please contact us for further information. If you would like to make a tax-deductible donation to benefit Pittwater's natural environment go to the Pittwater Environmental Foundation.
Our Aims
- To raise public awareness of the conservation value of the natural heritage of the Pittwater area: its landforms, watercourses, soils and local native vegetation and fauna.
- To raise public awareness of the threats to the long-term sustainability of Pittwater's natural heritage.
- To foster individual and community responsibility for caring for this natural heritage.
- To encourage Council and the NSW Government to adopt and implement policies and works which will conserve, sustain and enhance the natural heritage of Pittwater.
Our Charter
Pittwater Natural Heritage Association seeks to raise awareness and provide information and advice to our members on issues such as:
Native Tree Canopy
Identification of trees local to your particular area. What to plant to replace dead or dying trees, and how to care for trees. The characteristic form of the native tree canopy is a major contributor to Pittwater's sense of place.
"Bush Friendly" Gardens
Selecting plants for your garden that will live in harmony with nearby bushland and provide habitat for native animals and birds.
Building and Landscaping
Promoting practices which preserve and protect the visual qualities of the landform, preserve soil stability and prevent erosion of steep slopes and siltation of waterways.
Weed Infestation
Information on noxious and environmental weeds, weed identification and methods of control and eradication.
Living with Wildlife
Maintaining habitat and wildlife corridors for our rich and diverse native fauna. Understanding the impacts of introduced birds and animals and uncontrolled domestic pets.
Keeping our Waterways Healthy
Using and enjoying our waterways and estuaries whilst maintaining appropriate water quality and habitat for aquatic creatures. Caring for the streams, wetlands, saltmarsh and mangrove systems that are an integral part of our waterways.
Rock Platforms, Beaches and Dunes
Protecting and preserving the plant and animal communities on rock platforms. Restoration and regeneration of dune systems and maintenance of their stability.
Act to Preserve and Protect!
If you would like to join us, please fill out the Membership Application Form. Alternatively if you would like to contact us for information on any of our projects, our details are:
Email: pnhainfo@gmail.com
Postal Address
PO Box 187
Avalon Beach NSW 2107
PNHA President
Marita Macrae
President’s Report to 2024 AGM
As usual, a lot has happened since our last AGM, as you may have read in our newsletters.
As the PNHA brochure states, we act to protect Pittwater’s natural environment in five ways: Education, Raising Awareness, Advocacy, Campaigning and On-ground works.
Here are the actions we have taken in the past year, under those headings.
Education
Our main channel of education is our newsletter, and in the past year we have published articles providing updates on our campaigns and activities, and on interesting aspects of the world of birds, plants and insects. We hope you have enjoyed them.
We are also involved with a project of PNHA member Sylvia Saszczak, who has produced a series of books for primary school children about their natural environment. Contact pnhainfo@gmail.com for more information and a list of titles and prices.
We also have a website and Facebook page. Our Facebook page has almost 1000 Followers, but we need more, so don’t forget to Follow us and Like our Facebook posts.
.jpg?timestamp=1726794383704)
Raising Awareness
We raise awareness of our local environment is through nature walks and other similar activities
Since our last AGM we have conducted eight nature walks and nature appreciation activities:
We held 3 night-time activities this year:
The first was Katandra Reserve by Night on Oct 15, where we saw water dragons, a brushtail possum and a quite unusual occurrence which was the highlight of the night a display by fireflies.
We visited McCarrs Creek Reserve on the night of November 25, where we set up a light sheet and took photographs of insects which were recorded on the iNaturalist site for inclusion in the Great Southern Bioblitz.
And we returned to Katandra on the night of Feb 17 where we set up a light sheet and observed insects attracted by the light.
Other walks aimed at raising awareness of our local natural heritage were:
A walk in Bangalley Head Reserve on Oct 29, taking in the views, the flowering native plants and two Peregrine Falcons, flying out over the sea from their nest in the cliffs.
On Sunday March 24 we held a guided walk to Irrawong Waterfall, looking at birds and native plants.
Bob Conroy and Peter Mitchell guided us on a walk around part of the Ku-ring-gai Georegion on April 28. PNHA member John Illingsworth made a video which you can see on YouTube.
We also held a walk on Chiltern Track North on Aug 25 and a walk in Woorarra Lookout Reserve on Sept 8.
We also had two weed information stalls: a stall at Avalon in August and one at the Coastal Environment Centre on August 31.
Our night walks have been so successful that we will be returning to Katandra on October 26 for another night walk. If you are interested reply to our email.
Campaigning and Advocacy
Pittwater Natural Heritage is continually advocating for the local environment with Northern Beaches Council, and with State and Federal Governments.
And, although we are sometimes proactive, generally, our campaigns and advocacy actions are started in reaction to an action by Council, government or other party which presents an environmental threat to Pittwater. In the past year we have made submissions on:
Northern Beaches Council’s draft Tree Canopy Plan, Lizard Rock (now called Patyegarang), proposed use of synthetic turf at North Narrabeen Reserve, The Federal Government’s Nature Positive Laws, The Midget Farrelly rock carving at Palm Beach, The NSW State Government’s proposed planning changes, Northern Beaches Council’s Code of Meeting Practice, Northern Beaches Council’s plan to install an Osprey nesting pole in Hitchcock Park, North Avalon, and Transport for NSW’s proposed improvements to Wakehurst Parkway.
Our major campaigns this year were:
Our long running campaign to get fauna crossings on Mona Vale Road east which was successful with the construction of a fauna underpass and a fauna overpass. However, we are now fighting to protect the bushland which adjoins these crossings on the western side of Mona Vale Road East.
Photo: David Palmer, Jacqui Marlow and Marita Macrae celebrate the June 2017 announcement of a fauna bridge to be built over Mona Vale Rd East.
Photo: August 19 2023 - Jacqui Marlow, David Palmer and Marita Macrae celebrate the installation of the MVR East Upgrade fauna bridge supports.
We are supporting the campaign by Northern Beaches Bushland Guardians to save the Lizard Rock bushland.
We are supporting Project Restore: a program by Sydney Institute of Marine Science, aimed at protecting seagrass.
PNHA members joined with members of Canopy Keepers, Labor Environment Action Network, the Greens, and members of the public to save two mature trees in Ruskin Rowe from being cut down by Council contractors.
We are also working with Canopy Keepers on ways to protect the Pittwater Tree canopy.
We have attended “Weeds Roundtable” events held by Conny Harris, President of Northern Beaches Envirolink and PNHA member.
Ruskin Rowe tree Vigil
On-ground works
Obtaining grants to fund bush regeneration projects is one of our principal activities. It enables our volunteers to restore patches of the Pittwater landscape, in conjunction with professional bush regenerators. But for over a year PNHA has experienced a funding drought.
In the past we obtained funding from Greater Sydney Local Landcare Services, Northern Beaches Council and Landcare, but until recently these funding sources have not been active.
We did get a grant from Pittwater Environmental Foundation to employ a professional bush regenerator to work on a property on Grandview Drive, Bilgola Plateau and, in August we applied to Northern Beaches Council for a grant of $5000 to do bush regeneration on a patch of bushland in Avalon Golf Course. PNHA will be contributing $2000 of our own funds if our application is successful.
Unfortunately, during the year, Bangalley Landcare Group, who were closely associated with PNHA, had to wind up due to the high cost of insurance. PNHA has undertaken to continue to work on the site.
So, that’s what we have been doing for the past year, but what is ahead for next year?
We will continue campaigning for protection of the land around the fauna crossings on Mona Vale Road. And when the new Northern Beaches Councillors are sworn in, we will lobby them about stopping the installation of synthetic turf playing fields, which release microplastics into our environment as they wear. We will also be continuing to provide input into the Northern Beaches Council Local Environment Plan,
And as we have been doing for many years, we will also be continuing our campaigning against weeds.
So, we have a lot of work planned for the next year, and of course, who knows what else will arise to cause us to swing into action and seek support from you, our valuable members.
Marita Macrae
PNHA achievements – 30 years
Our Achievements have been many and varied, with many on ground projects and campaigns in partnership with Pittwater and NB Councils, grants from Federal Government and the various versions of what is now Greater Sydney Local Land Services, an arm of NSW Government. We are an incorporated Landcare Group with a difference, in that unlike others we don’t have a particular piece of land we own and maintain. Instead we focus on the original Pittwater LGA area (1992), now a bit larger as the Pittwater precinct of NBC. Incorporation means we can receive grant funds.
In no particular order here are some of our achievements.
Activities
Guided wildlife walks - several a year.
101 Newsletters
The first in October 1994, mostly quarterly. Originally these were printed in one basic colour by Major Graphics and posted out to members. But as digital technology developed and the use of the internet exploded, we now produce the newsletter by desktop publishing and send it out by email. Most are available on our website here.
During the COVID lockdowns we published 10 issues of Pittwater Nature, here, a bi-monthly bulletin for bushcare, wildlife care, and community garden volunteers to share.
PNHA's first Newsletter
PNHA's Spring 2024 Newsletter
Our Weeds campaigning
Our Weeds Information Service started at the CEC in April 1998 on the first and third Monday afternoon of each month. This continued for maybe a year. We’ve been trying to raise awareness of the effect of weeds on our environment ever since. We’ve succeeded in improving weed information on the NBC webpage in consultation with council staff.
A major project: Saving Warriewood Escarpment
PNHA ran the community campaign for preservation of this land from when a subdivision proposal was made to Pittwater Council in 1999 to finalisation in 2010.
The bushland behind Mona Vale and Warriewood was privately owned, a surprise to many people who had assumed it was a national park. Subdivision would have had ruinous effects on its bushland and various creeks. An outstanding partnership developed between PNHA, Pittwater Council and the community. Angus Gordon was then General Manager. You can read the account of the successful campaign in the booklet by David Palmer and Angus Gordon, A History of the campaign for preservation of the Warriewood Escarpment.
Another major project: Campaigning for Fauna Crossings on the widened MV Rd East – fauna bridge and underpass. Many meetings with road designers at Transport NSW and Rob Stokes, then our State MP for Pittwater, resulted in the fauna overpass, erected late August 2023. Though not as wide as we would have liked, it is now being used by fauna. An underpass has also been constructed.
Proposals for the Ingleside land release
We succeeded in convincing the planners to provide reasonable fauna corridors in the proposals, but the land release proposals were abandoned. We had succeeded in getting the two government departments, Planning NSW and NSW Transport to realise that the fauna corridors had to link up with proposed fauna crossings proposed for the widened Mona Vale Rd.
Hamilton Estate and Hillside Rd Newport
We supported opposition to development of the Hamilton Estate above the Bilgola Bends, and opposition to several attempts to subdivide littoral rainforest at 84 and 92 Hillside Rd Newport. This land is now in Council ownership. We also joined successful opposition to a proposed large marina for big boats in Careel Bay
Proposed Bayview Golf club development
In 2015 a development comprising a number of residential unit blocks was proposed for land on Bayview Golf Course. PNHA joined with other local groups and individuals in opposing it, on the grounds that it would cause loss of bushland and that it is a valuable fauna corridor as identified in a Pittwater Council fauna corridor survey. A feature of the campaign was a petition against the development signed by over 6740 people.
After many modifications to the DA and more attempts by the proponents to get approval, in 2018 the Northern Sydney Planning Panel determined that the development should not go ahead. The site retains its bushland and still functions as a wildlife corridor.
Bush Regeneration grants
We’ve received many grants for bushland management from Total Catchment Management – Greater Sydney Local Land Services which we have run in cooperation with Pittwater / NBC. Other grants have come from NBC and NSW Environmental Trusts, and one from the Federal Government. The total value of these projects is far more than the dollars provided by the grants as often Council would contribute cash. Also, considerable volunteer time is given a cash value.
Some of these were projects on Avalon Dunes, Mona Vale Dunes, Mona Vale Basin Reserve, Barrenjoey Dunes, Attunga Reserve heathland near Newport, Careel Creek Freshwater Wetlands, Vine Weed Control along Careel Creek. Several grant projects targeted Ground Asparagus (remember those Asparagus Fern Out weekends at Pittwater YHA?), and revegetation of Careel Creek near Barrenjoey High School.
Careel Bay Restoring Sydney Freshwater Wetlands Bushcare Group - Final Field Day - May 25th, 2019
Pam Bateman, Noxious Weed Officer with Pittwater Council, Helena Dewis, Bushcare Officer Pittwater Council, Marita Macrae - Pittwater Natural Heritage Association in 2013
But wait, there’s more: A long running bush regeneration project at the Bahai Temple to protect endangered Grevillea caleyi, Bangalley Head Reserve near Whale Beach Rd, several in Palmgrove Park Avalon above Dress Circle Rd, the Enviropack for new residents, Avalon Golf Course, Warriewood Wetland bush regeneration - this included production of our bird book, a best seller rivalling The Da Vinci Code in the Warriewood Square bookshop for a few weeks in 2004.
Several PNHA members persuaded Northern Beaches Council to purchase 24C Walana Crescent Mona Vale in 2017. This land adjoins Katandra Bushland Sanctuary on its upper boundary.
We introduced the Trad Biocontrol fungus in late 2020, into many weedy sites, with great success. We supported a proposal for a Dark Sky Park in Governor Philip Park at Palm Beach – now established.
Our PNHA cards have been very popular at market days and other events. Still a bargain at $2 00 each
We reflect on the last 30 years. How successful has PNHA really been since 1994? How lasting are those achievements? What more can we achieve?? How to get more people aware that we must be active in looking after our local environment?
