Explore Hanlon Park and Burnett Swamp Bushcare Sites

N4C Bushcare Site Tours#7: Buranda and Burnett Swamp Bushcare Sites and Hanlon   Park Join us on for the next of N4C’s catchment bushcare site tours! N4C   supports a range of bushcare and affiliated sites working with different   ecologies and landscapes. Each has a varied history with different challenges   and opportunities, and some relatively new and others over 40 years old!   Collectively, the volunteers who work on these sites have a wealth of   bushcare experience in rewilding and caring for our natural environment.    This series of events is aimed at regular N4C volunteers and group leaders   as well as general members of the public. For the former, it provides a   chance to visit other sites within the catchment and get to see what others   are doing, exchange knowledge, share experiences of both challenges and   opportunities, as well as chance to   socialise and understand the broader Norman Creek catchment. For members of   the public who may be thinking about volunteering in bushcare but not sure   exactly where to start or what group they may like to join, it is an   opportunity to visit your local groups/sites to see what is happening, meet   the group leaders and learn about N4C and its role in supporting our local   environment. Each catchment tour is designed as a walking tour capturing a couple of  sites that are relatively nearby, with the aim of walking between them where   possible, of around 4-5km on average, as a way of understanding the  connections between sites. The option of course exists for those less able to   walk between to drive and meet the main group at the next site.  

Catchment Tour #7 – Buranda and Burnett Swamp Bushcare Sites and Hanlon   Park This tour in our series explores two mid-catchment bushcare sites at the   point where Norman Creek transitions from a freshwater watercourse to an   estuarine environment. The tour will also explore the multiple award winning   Hanlon Park, a fantastic example of how a concreted section of creek can be   returned to a more natural environment with numerous benefits for the  environment and community. Buranda Bushcare Buranda Bushcare has been operating since 2018 downstream of Hanlon Park,   when a group of locals and school students from Buranda State School started   working with the support of N4C and Brisbane City Council’s Habitat Brisbane   program along the strip of land along Norman Creek near the Gladys St busway.   The work the group has done has enhanced and expanded the area of riparian  vegetation behind the line of mangroves, increasing habitat values in the   area and engaging the local community. Burnett Swamp Bushcare & Hanlon Park The area between Stones Corner and Ridge St in Greenslopes was known by  early European settlers as Burnett Swamp, inspiring the name for the local   bush care group that has been operating in the area of Hanlon Park for over   20 years. The group has worked on the high ground beside Norman Creek   adjacent the kindergarten with the aim of preserving valuable large trees,   bring wildlife back to the area, develop a bush food garden and facilitate   environmental education. For much of that time the creek itself languished in an ageing concrete   channel that separated both sides of the park and was mostly devoid of any   aquatic life. This was the catalyst for N4C, in partnership with Brisbane   City Council, developing the Norman Creek 2012-2031 Master Plan. Council then took this project forward   through design and construction and Hanlon Park as it stands now (completed   in 2022), is the jewel in the crown of the Master Plan: a naturalised creek   channel with vastly improved ecological health. The creek has now been reconfigured with a beautiful meandering low-flow  channel, and a wide high-flow channel which is able to handle large volumes   of water when the creek is in flood. Freshwater habitats are supported by riparian planting and far more   animals and birds are now seen in the park. Simple infrastructure design allows movement of floodwaters with   minimum impact due to flood resilient design. Hanlon Park has since been featured on ABC’s Gardening Australia and   has won numerous engineering, landscape architecture and planning awards.

Meeting Point:  Stones Corner Library. 

Note – a popular Park Run event is   run every Saturday morning at 7am at Hanlon Park. Whilst it should be clearing out by then, please allow extra time to find yourself a carpark on one of the surrounding streets or at Hanlon Park if that is your mode of   ransport on the day.

For more informatino contact Tom Willmott on normanck@bigpond.net.au

This event is hosted by N4C -  Norman Creek Catchment Coordinating Commitee.