by Shane Sody
Two groups are offering you the opportunity to get your hands dirty with planting and re-generation activities in your Adelaide Park Lands.
Trees for Life
Over the past few years, Trees for Life has run a successful “ReGenerate” program, with volunteers restoring bushland plants at various locations in your Adelaide Park Lands
The program relies upon funding provided, via community grants from the City of Adelaide.
Fortunately, funding has been renewed, and so a new series of events has been scheduled, at least for the first six months of 2025.
It’s free - and lunch is provided! Find out when the events are scheduled, and how you can get involved, with this (draft) schedule of events.
Locations are:
Lefevre Park / Nantu Wama (Park 6)
Victoria Park / Pakapakanthi (Park 16); and
Carriageway Park / Tuthangga (Park 17)
“Regenerate” volunteers in Carriageway Park / Tuthangga (Park 17)
Green Pakapakanthi
At the same time, the South East City Residents Association (SECRA) is continuing its successful program of weeding, plantings and bushcare around the wetlands in the southern part of Victoria Park / Pakapakanthi (Park 16).
“Green Pakapakanthi” volunteers. Pic: Kadaltilla / Park Lands Authority
SECRA’s “Green Pakapakanthi” group meets at 9.30am on the first Wednesday of each month to:
remove invasive weeds;
clean up stormwater litter.
spot amazing birds like black swans, ducks, and reed warblers!
followed by a cup of tea of course!
“Green Pakapakanthi” volunteers. Pic: Kadaltilla / Park Lands Authority
In December 2024, the team undertook a massive weeding effort, tackling tough areas along the southwestern ponds.
The work is never done, especially against resilient weeds like kikuyu. But with help and support from the City of Adelaide, the passionate volunteers of the Green Pakapakanthi Wetland Care group is making progress and having fun along the way!
The next session is on 5 February 2025. Want to get involved? Here’s the link: https://secra.asn.au/green-pakapakanthi-volunteer/
Restoring Park Lands? Still waiting for approval
It is one thing, to re-vegetate and carry out weeding in existing Open, Green, Public Park Lands, as these two groups have been successfully doing.
It is another thing entirely to get permission to re-green areas that are now covered with unwanted and disused bitumen.
For more than FIVE YEARS, the Adelaide Park Lands Association has been thwarted in attempts to get City Council approval for remediating and re-greening ANY bitumen site within your Park Lands.
We are not permitted to simply bring in jackhammers, so we are forced to wait until the City of Adelaide allocates funding for the purpose. Successive City budgets have failed to include any such initiative.
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The author of this article, Shane Sody, is the President of the Adelaide Park Lands Association and the editor of the semi-monthly newsletter, "Open Green Public".
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https://adelaideparklands.m-pages.com/YWRrGW/adelaide-park-lands-assn-mailing
