Springfield residents were pleased to see heavy machinery roll in to the suburb early this month, as work on the next state of the cleaning of Springfield Pond began.
A Central Coast Council spokesman said the problematic weed, salvinia molesta, had been causing headaches at the wetlands since at least 2015 due to its ability to multiply in size in a short time frame. “It was a delicate operation that required the use of heavy machinery and we’re delighted with the work, ” Council’s Unit Manager of Environmental Management, Luke Sulkowski, said.
“The team on the ground were able to remove a significant amount of weed that has left the wetlands looking much more like its former self. ” Following the completion of the heavy machinery work, about 30 cubic metres of salvinia and other aquatic weeds were removed and stockpiled, Sulkowski said.
The next stage of the work involved installing floating booms so that the last remaining sections of weed could be removed. Additional work, including the removal of the weed from underneath the native plants on the water’s edge as well as the last of the weed which had wrapped itself around the reeds, concluded the project.
Rehabilitation of the wetlands was made possible thanks to a jointly funded project by Council and an additional $125,000 boost from the NSW Government. Residents Glenys Ray, Tracy Rogers and Sue Donovan worked with Member for Terrigal, Adam Crouch, in securing the government grant.
“This is a very big job and has arisen from somebody negligently dumping an aquarium with the weeds into the pond, ” Ray said. “Half the pond is in private ownership and unfortunately the developer has not come on board with Council to get all the work completed in one go. “His 4,000 sq m (approx. ) is still totally infested. ”
Source: Media statement, Nov 11 Glenys Ray Media release, Nov 18 Central Coast Council