A plaque was erected in Sanderling Avenue Hawks Nest to commemorate John Davis, Great Lakes Council’s Tree Management Officer from November 2002 to August 2012.
John had a vision to create an avenue of koala food trees along Sanderling Avenue beside the golf course to support the locally endangered koala population and to showcase the beauty of the trees to the community.

The plan was to plant eleven different koala-friendly eucalyptus trees. Koalas only eat leaves from a limited number of gum trees, depending on the level of toxicity in the leaves. Some of the trees in Sanderling Avenue are endemic to our area such as Swamp Mahogany, Bangalay, Tallowwood and Parramattensis. Others are from different parts of the state. Unfortunately, after the initial plantings in 2010, a number of the trees were vandalised and some did not survive due to natural causes. Over time, Great Lakes Council, the Myall Koala and Environment Group and the Bitou Busters bush regeneration Group plan to replant the missing trees to re-establish John’s vision for the area.