Obelisk Hill - Arcadia Park

In 2010 Lois Simpson, a member of the Newcastle Bushwalking Club initiated the formation of a Coastcare group to celebrate the Club's 50 year anniversary and to restore native vegetation to Obelisk Hill and its surrounds in Newcastle. So commenced a wonderful fourteen years of effort to clear weed growth, mulch and replant the area with local native species. The baton was handed into the capable hands of Bob Clifton and the work area considerably expanded to include Ordnance and Wolfe Street verges, and in the last nine years across Wolfe Street into Arcadia Park. Along the way we have received great support from City of Newcastle's Natural Areas team in the form of advice, mulch, plants, a storage container and several grants for specific projects. Trees in Newcastle (TIN) has assisted in some projects and with the supply of plants. 

Working on Obelisk Hill and Arcadia Park in Newcastle, the group is addressing the control of weeds in an urban environment and the enhancement of biodiversity by re-establishing native coastal and littoral rainforest habitats, and protecting remnant Themeda grasslands. 

They have also installed nesting boxes for birds and mammals in Arcadia Park and are creating an awareness of and interest in the beauty, diversity and value of small pockets of native habitat in a city environment. Additionally, their activities involve the removal of weeds including weed trees (African olive and date palms), and replacing them with native tube stock. The group find that the maintenance of restored areas is ongoing and the work load reduces as new plantings take over.