Final Bitou Busters Session for 2023
Well, another year of Bitou Busting comes to an end – a season book-ended with BBQs!
This year has been busy and most rewarding for the results achieved by many volunteers working in five different locations over the seven-month season
We’ve worked along the western end of The Anchorage, the western two sections along The Boulevarde, extensively along the riverbanks at Moira Parade, rejuvenated the John Davis Walk nature beds along Sanderling Avenue and worked the back of the Bennett’s Beach sand dune at the end of Sanderling Avenue.
While the weed list was most extensive along Moira Parade, the chief culprits we dealt with everywhere were the usual suspects of
bitou bush, asparagus fern and bridal creeper, mother of millions, agave, Easter cassia and Polygala.
May was a bit different as a much-needed weeding and tidying exercise of the Sanderling Ave nature strip turned into a marathon month where spreading a mammoth amount of mulch deposited, at our request, by MidCoast Council was completed with enthusiasm and good humour by a great turnout of a majority of our group. Instead of our usual work in small groups in a bushy environment, we were thrown together in a single purpose operation that was enjoyed as if we were on a school excursion! No mother-of-millions or bitou or asparagus fern in sight!!
While the monthly numbers swelled and dwindled depending on what our volunteers were doing in their busy, active lives, and sometimes dealing with health issues, we were fortunate to gain eight new members, five of which have already been inducted as MCC volunteers. We welcome you all and look forward to you being with us as frequently as your time allows next year.
Such is the enthusiasm, a few of the ‘newbies’ are planning their own ‘commando’ sorties over the summer break!
Speaking of commandos. The introduction of an extra monthly session held on a weekday between the regular Saturday events has been a great success. So good to have people willing to come along, sometimes with only a few days’ notice, to put in that extra labour to improve our overall productivity. We certainly don’t expect everyone to feel obliged to participate, just six to ten workers can achieve a lot in a couple of hours.
This is reflected in the total hours worked this year. Last year we almost hit 200hrs. This year we are just 7 hours short of 300!
Finally, on October 21st a big day on the BB calendar when 20 volunteers showed up for the last session at the Boulevarde to labour over the removal of bitou, asparagus fern, mother of millions and Polygala. The bags in the photo below were most, but not all that was removed from that site.
21 people made it to the BBQ along the Anchorage for a very windy but lively afternoon of eating, drinking and convivial conversation.
Thank you all for your contributions this year, you have made our job so much easier and effective by your participation. What a great bunch of people we have the pleasure to coordinate in the restoration and rejuvenation of our natural spaces!
Trish Blair
Bitou Busters Co ordinator
October 2023
