$2.8m Bushland Beach naturalisation project reshapes landscape to help reef
Step behind the scenes of a large-scale project transforming a concrete-lined drain in a picturesque living waterway. See how it protects the Great Barrier Reef.
Townsville
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An epic transformation of a Bushland Beach watercourse is taking shape as 70 workers plant 97,000 trees and grasses to create a picturesque living waterway which improves water quality and protects the Great Barrier Reef.
In planning since 2021, the Townsville City Council-led $2.8m Bushland Beach naturalisation project is upgrading a drain corridor and footpath running behind Peggy Banfield Park, between Mount Low Parkway and Lionel Turner Drive.
Work began in January to dig out old cement-lined drain to widen the corridor, line it with rocks, and re-landscape it to create a “bio-engineered naturalised waterway” featuring a low-maintenance creek, habitat pools, and sediment-collection ponds.
Construction involved removing two pedestrian bridges and closing a section of the footpath adjacent to the open drain, and creating a laydown area on a nearby, unused AFL field.
In recent weeks, 20 council staff and 50 contractors began planting 40,000 plants cultivated by Townsville City Council’s and other nurseries, along with plants relocated from other council projects.
Expected to complete by late December, the project aims to boost biodiversity, natural mosquito control, soil improvement to reduce erosion, aid water penetration and promote plant growth, and improved water quality.
Among the four contractors rolling up their sleeves were First Nations workers sourced from Indigenous-led employment group Three Big Rivers.
Led by executive director Thomas Holden, the group was just a start-up three years ago, and now they are providing support to the state government’s Reef Assist program throughout NQ.
“Since January we’ve been involved in seed collection, propagation, and pollinating plants,” Mr Holden said.
“We will increase the employment right up until the last day of operation before the Christmas break.
“First Nations people have been doing it for 65,000 years. So if we can create projects and connection back to country utilising commercial and sustainable projects, like this project here, I think we’re going in the right direction as a community.”
As a Reef Guardian Council, Community Health, Safety and Environmental Sustainability chair Maurie Soars said it was essential for the council to be proactively delivering innovative improvements to the water making its way from the city to the Great Barrier Reef.
“(The project will) improve the ecological aspect of this area for the community’s benefits also to reduce run-off to the reef, both nutrients and pollutants,” Cr Soars said.
“When you develop any area, you increase the amount of water running off and speed … the water’s not soaking in the ground.
“We’ve reproduced the natural creek, with its eddies and capture points, to slow the water down.”
He said the project was co-designed by residents through the Have Your Say Townsville website and in-person consultation sessions.
“I’d like to extend my thanks to residents in the area for their patience as we get this important work done to help improve our environment,” he said.
For more information, visit the council’s website.
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Originally published as $2.8m Bushland Beach naturalisation project reshapes landscape to help reef
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