Sublime Point Bushcare Group April 2010

On Australia Day 1996 thirty-four people living in the area responded to an invitation to clean up the Reserve. Initial enthusiasm was short-lived, but a committee was formed and regular monthly meetings of the SPBG began in July. These activities enabled the SPBG to regularly record 500 hours work per year. As the years went by the activities of the SPBG shifted to the present Care and Maintenance, and the recorded annual hours fell to about 250.

Regular Members of the SPBG were David Coleby (Founder and Convener), Rae Druitt (Founder), Joan* and Imre* Gahl, Brian Marshall, Brendan Doyle, Marcus Marshall, Margaret Beale, Jeremy Townend, Janet Shields*, Ross Day and Syd Cole. (*indicates deceased). Former Members included Sue Cunningham, Rick and Caroline Asensio, Gus Donald, Anne Kemp, Wendy Jones, Fay Arnold, Bill Avery, Verna van Ryswyck, Doug Swinburn, John and Elizabeth Mason, Lyn and Michael Willis, and Rosemary Delaney.

A number of Council Bushcare Officers have mentored the SPBG, beginning with Virginia Bear and Eric Mahony (1996), then to Chris Dewhurst (1998-2001), Soren Mortensen for a short while, then back to Chris Dewhurst (2003). Later came Tracey Williams (2006-7), Nathan Summers, Lyndal Sullivan (2008-2018), and Steven Fleischmann (2019-2020). In mid-2020 James Bevan was appointed Bushcare Officer.

‘A book Twenty-Five years of Bushcare at Sublime Point Reserve, Leura was published in 2021, and describes the history of the SPBG between 1996–2021. The book is A5, 40 pp, in full colour, and has a Foreword by the Mayor, Mark Greenhill OAM. It is available from the author at davidcoleby@bigpond.com, $20+$3 P+P = $23.’