Bushland Beach Channel Naturalisation
| Investment | $2.8 million |
|---|---|
| Goal | 4.4 World class liveability through excellent open spaces which promote, protect, and encourage utilisation of our natural environment and heritage. |
| Strategic Purpose | To transform the Bushland Beach channel into a picturesque living waterway that enhances the aesthetic of the area and benefits both the community and the natural environment. |
| Status | Underway |
Project Overview
Council is undertaking works to transform the Bushland Beach channel into a picturesque living waterway that enhances the aesthetic of the area and benefits both the community and the natural environment, following residents’ concerns over the existing open drain adjacent to Peggy Banfield Park.
Co-designed by residents through community consultation, the design provides for a natural self-regulating ecosystem within the channel through the installation of ponds and a meandering rocky creek bed, integration with existing stormwater pipe inlets and provision for sediment capture and clean-out, which will improve the quality of the water that flows to the Great Barrier Reef.
The natural waterway is designed in such a way that minimal maintenance is required, whilst providing numerous benefits, such as:
- improved biodiversity with native vegetation that shades out unwanted plants and weeds
- natural mosquito control through the provision of a habitat for mosquito predators
- soil amelioration, which will reduce erosion, aid water penetration, promote plant growth and improved soil quality to support native vegetation and trees which will in turn stabilise the banks
- increased cross-sectional capacity of the channel
- enhanced aesthetic - a channel that is reimagined as a living waterway rather than an urban drain
- improved water quality through the inclusion of ponds designed to capture sediment.
The project will leverage funding received from the Queensland Government as part of the Cleaner Wastewater Initiative project under the Queensland Reef Water Quality Program.
Project Schedule
Works commence: Wednesday 24 May 2023
Project completion: November 2023
The works involve:
- removal of two pedestrian bridges with pedestrian detour in place.
- closure of the section of footpath adjacent to the open drain for the duration of the works
- site office and laydown area located in the unused AFL field
- heavy machinery and associated noise and dust to surrounding areas.
Proudly funded by the Queensland Government’s Queensland Reef Water Quality Program in association with Townsville City Council.
