Hospital Hill Landcare

Project background and management plan

Workdays, background and management plan

Workdays

First Saturday of each month, 8:30 - 10:30 am.

Background

Hospital Hill is a 10 Ha (approximately) urban remnant located in central Murwillumbah.

The area has a history of disturbance events. In 1925 land was cleared on the crown of Hospital Hill to construct the first water reservoir. The reservoir was upgraded in 1930 and again in 1960 to its current capacity. In both 1930 and 1960 clearing occurred with only a few mature native trees being retained. In 2003 there was further disturbance and loss of mature trees when a second water reservoir was erected. A quarry was in operation on the south side of the hill to provide material for road base in the town area up until the 1990’s.

Restoration activities on Hospital Hill began at some point in the 1990s, when youth unemployed services and Lion Club volunteers undertook restoration and planting activities adjacent to the quarry. Since then there has been attempts at restoring the area but management has generally been ad hoc.

The remnant includes Tweed Shire Council Operational Land and Council Administered Crown Land. The remnant shares boundaries with over 30 residential and commercial buildings. Encroachment of exotic ornamental species from the residential area and from garden dumping is evident throughout the remnant.

The overall condition of the remnant is highly disturbed. Camphor Laurel is dominant in the canopy and present in the mid and ground storey. Numerous introduced species dominate areas of the remnant. These weeds include Umbrella Tree, Ochna, Fishbone Fern and exotic grasses.

Hospital Hill Landcare will initially focus their activities on the 0.5 hectare area around the old quarry called Zone 1 (shown on Map). The vegetation in this area is dry sclerophyll forest with a frequent to occasional weed presence. It is dominated by tall by Brushbox (Lophostemon confertus) and Tallowood (Eucalyptus microcorys), with a sparse mid-storey of weed species and dry sclerophyll species and a mid-dense ground storey of exotic grasses and ground covers.

The majority of the Hospital Hill remnant is located below the ring road, it is comprised of wet sclerophyll species with a dominant weed presence and occasional rainforest species. This area is not discussed in this plan.

Management Plan

The zone requires comprehensive and systematic control of weeds groundcover weeds. Particular weeds of note are Camphor Laurel, Ochna, Cats Claw Creeper, Silver Leaf Desmodium, Climbing Philodendron and Fishbone Fern.

Order of restoration activities:

1.
Establish Photo Monitoring Points
2.
Remove garden waste and rubbish dumping
3.
Starting from the south east of the zone and working in lines parallel to the contour of the land, carry out systematic primary work. Cut scrape & paint all woody weeds and vine weeds in the mid to ground storeys. Large woody weeds such as Umbrella Tree to be drilled and injected. Complete a primary spot spray run. Open up only enough area at a time to allow for sufficient follow-up runs as funding or scheduling allows.
4.
Follow up all primary work extensively and systematically, spot spraying ground storey weeds until emergence of weed seedlings declines.
5.
Drill and inject Camphor Laurels or have larger Camphor trees taken down by an arborist to avoid potential of harm to any persons or assets.
6.
Continue follow up work to deplete weed seed in the soil and encourage native regeneration.

Produced from information and support provided by Jesse Kenny (Intrepid Landcare), Rhonda James (Bushland Restoration Services) and John Turnbull (TSC).