Marlston Hill is a beach and harbour side suburb right in the heart of Bunbury nestled between the city, the ocean and the inner harbour. It used to be the site of the large oil bunkering tanks that overlooked Bunbury for a generation and were removed in the 80’s. The harbour side industrial flavour of the area has now been replaced by a hilltop and hill side suburb with magnificent views of Koombana Bay and the Indian Ocean.
With the ready access to the beach and the increase in population density at Marlston Hill it is not surprising that the dunes there are beginning to show signs of wear and tear. This was identified by SWCC’s Coastal Facilitator, Chris Gibbs, back in December 2010 and students from the Parkfield Primary Schools Dune Dudes program met there to carry out a mapping exercise to identify areas most in need of repair.
The mapping exercise seemed to work well and since there was no coastal caretaker group at Marlston, SWCC decided to see if the same sort of mapping activity might be productive with some of the Marlston residents as a way of encouraging a group to form. In March 2011 a number of residents met and repeated the exercise from the BP Beach lookout to the north right through to the lighthouse to the south. Large A3 aerial photographs were used which had blank spaces for residents to write notes and animated discussion and note making followed by a cuppa and more discussion produced a simple summary of issues and suggestions for future efforts to repair some of the damaged and degraded areas.
There seemed to be some quiet enthusiasm for carrying out some remedial ground works together and already some of the residents had taken the initiative by making their own ‘keep off the dunes’ signs which they had installed and even some planting using seedlings from the City of Bunbury.
SWCC suggested a brushing day might be a appropriate start to try and stabilise some of the sand that was blowing across the north south coast pathway and the City of Bunbury’s Parks and Garden’s Coordinator was most helpful in organising trucks of native vegetation brushing to be dumped at the popular BP surf beach car park.
Residents turned out in June and a really energetic group attacked a large stack of brushing with relish. The entire pile was all moved and placed along the steep, unstable loose sand areas adjacent to the walkway in less than three hours and there was time for the mandatory morning tea and chat afterwards. There was a great sense of achievement that day and residents were keen for more involvement. Things were shaping up well for Marlston’s coast.
Since the June brushing day there have been three more planting days for residents in July and August, and still there is enthusiasm for more. This is a Coastal Facilitator’s dream group. A piece in the local press has brought three more new volunteers to the group in August and they have already helped out with a dune brushing event.
SWCC recently took some members of the group to visit other beaches to the south of Bunbury, looking at coastal fencing with the view to the Friends of Marlston applying for Coastwest Funding themselves. The winter’s storms here have caused havoc with some fencing at Dalyellup and there were lessons to be learnt by the group about fence types and fence placement.
The Parkfield Primary’s Dune Dudes are booked in for a dune brushing event late this August and they will cap off a very positive and productive winter season of dune care at Marlston Hill. Chris and the team at the South West Catchments Council would like to thank all of the community, young and old who have been involved in dune restoration there and illustrating that the spirit of coastal caretaker-ship is alive and well here in Bunbury.
This project is supported by the South West Catchments Council, through funding from the Australian Government’s Caring for our Country and the Government of Western Australia.
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