Clearing the lower wetland areas

Clearing the site The area before the clearing started (click on picture to enlarge):

Once they started clearing, dozens of bags of refuse (including plastic stripped from cables – see picture above) was carted away. After clearing the shrubs, a chipper was brought in to chip the cut branches for re-use on site. In some of the pictures below some of the milkwood and other trees that are being retained on the site can be seen.

The little red chipper could not make much headway, so a larger chipper was brought in, it took only two days to chip all the cut vegetation on site. This material has been spread over the cleared areas, both to prevent dust and as a mulch – this was done at the request of the City.

The area has now been cleared of shrubs, but we are still removing roots and litter. It is not helping that, now that it has been cleared, some people are now using the area for dumping rubbish – our landscaping team have a never-ending task of trying to keep the area clean. Most of the shrubs around the detention ponds have been left at this stage. If they do become a haven for vagrants, we will replace them as well; but most are low shrubs. The reedbeds serve an important filtering function and must be retained, although we do clear out excess reed growth. The irrigations system had been severely damaged by vandals, but this has now been repaired so that we can once again irrigate the area – we are trying to do this without inconveniencing people walking to and from the bus station. This does mean that we can start putting in ground cover soon; later in the year when the weather turns cooler we hope to start planting trees. The whole rehabilitation process will take place over several years as we have to do it within the limits of our normal landscaping budget.