Bush restoration works at the Old Jarrahdale Mill site are ongoing, with a number of significant advances in recent months.
The location, situated among Jarrahdale’s many trails, has received volunteer maintenance and restoration for some time, and is considered an important section of the wider Jarrahdale region.
Since the end of summer, a major focus has been the elimination of the New South Wales Black Wattle, a major weed in the area that grows rapidly and can take over quickly. Both grown trees and seedlings have been removed.
“We’re ripping them out. We’re cutting them up and we’re chopping them up for firewood. People are allowed to come down here and pick up the firewood and take it home, but at the moment, it means you have to barrow it up to your car because it’s in remote areas. Also, because we’re not always permitted to burn the remainder off in stacks, we get a mulcher in to turn it into mulch, which also has a lot of use around here,” said George Parry, a long-term volunteer.
“In the last 12 months, we’ve also converted a lot of old railway sleepers from the tracks that used to run through here into chairs and tables. We get a lot of hikers, and people walking their dogs, so it’s the perfect area for it.”
The well-known local landmark pine tree, named the ‘Lonely Pine’ in honour of a landmark tree in Gallipoli, has also received surrounding benches.
Mr Parry has emphasised that the Jarrahdale Volunteers, which is a non-profit organisation, often has it tough with funding, though they have developed strategies to ensure that they get by.
“I’ve got a lot of drinking mates down at the pub, so I managed to raise money for many of these projects. Recently, we secured about 180 bucks through a fundraiser, plus, people give me donations. The fundraiser was a beer raffle with wine boxes. It was all out within an hour. People were ringing me up asking if we have any more tickets, but they were all gone,” he said.
Because of the Old Mill area’s history as a well-trafficked section of town, there are many trinkets lying around. Volunteers, according to Mr Parry, sometimes find historic items during their work, and scavengers are known to prowl the area with metal detectors, though such behaviour is not condoned by the volunteer group or the Shire.
The Jarrahdale Volunteers often collaborate with SJ Landcare. According to Mr Parry: “They come up here and often do the spraying, targeting blackberry mostly. This has to be taken care of, but we leave behind the natives. SJ Landcare often support us in the mulching as well.”
Within the last few weeks, the group have constructed what they call a ‘beaver dam,’ in preparation for the oncoming rainy weather.
“In the winter months, specifically the middle of winter, the water in one section of the creek gets up to six-foot-deep, and it’s all the way to the sides. The ‘beaver dam’ slows the flow down. Water still comes through, though it’s designed to stop it flooding out,” said Mr Parry.
The Jarrahdale Volunteers continue their work every Tuesday, and always welcome new volunteers.
