Pittwater Natural Heritage Association (PNHA) celebrated its 20 year anniversary with the AGM last weekend, held on Sunday September 21st.
PNHA had a previous name, the Pittwater Bushland Conservation Committee, set up in 1993 to fight against the destruction of bushland in Mona Vale.
This government-owned land lay between Waratah and Park Streets. It had been designated as a TAFE college site but the government decided instead to rezone it and develop it for multi-unit housing.
Although some of it been cleared for years, the western area contained bushland then rare in Pittwater, with many native trees and a large variety of shrubs. The development was reduced somewhat after protests from Pittwater Council and the Committee. The bushland is now called Woodlands Reserve.
The Committee decided that Pittwater needed a community organisation to act on behalf of all of Pittwater's natural environment. The name was changed and PNHA was incorporated in September 1994.
In the 20 years since then, PNHA has had many achievements.
A major success was activating Pittwater Council to conserve bushland on private properties on the escarpment behind Mona Vale. Much of this was threatened with subdivision in the late 1990s and early 2000s, but thanks to a great partnership with Council and the State Government involving land swaps and purchases the land now forms Ingleside Chase Reserve.
Our several grants funding control of the dreadful weed Asparagus Fern have removed a lot of it, and educated many people in how to deal with this invasive plant. It is now listed as one of Australia's worst weeds, perhaps because of our campaign of many years to draw attention to it.
We welcome new members, so please contact us throughpnhainfo@gmail.com for more information.
Marita Macrae,
PNHA Chair
Attended by Pittwater Councillors Alex McTaggart and Jacqueline Townsend, Mayor of Pittwater
