Mount Gravatt Environment Group

Koala photographed in Fox Gully October 2009

MEG is working with BCC Habitat Brisbane, First Contact, Mt Gravatt District Historical Society, Cr Krista Adams and other  local stakeholders to plan the restoration of Mt Gravatt Outlook to maximise the experience for visitors.

The focus for MEG is engaging visitors, both local and tourists, with a powerful environmental, cultural/historical experience through development of the distant city and river vistas while experincing the colours and scents of our local wildflowers, calls of King Parrots, the flash of colour as Imperial Hairstreaks cluster in the Acacias and the buzz of discovering a Koala asleep in a Tallowwood.

Our research of local plants and wildlife – Flora & Fauna of Mt Gravatt Reserve by Sue Jones & Michael Fox, combined with our bush restoration experience allows us to see huge potential in thoughtful development of the Scenic Outlook with the objectives of:

• developing habitat to attact and support the complex community of Koalas, Sugar Gliders, birds, butterflies and insects;
• reducing the spread of weeds through-out the Reserve and the wider Bulimba Creek catchment by effective bush restoration at the Outlook;
• reducing ongoing BCC maintenance costs by use of best practice bushcare techniques; and
• improving public safety by reducing risk of injury on steep slopes.

The following is an extract from Mike’s comments on the Mt Gravatt Outlook Reserve Draft Land Management Plan June 2008.

Scenic Amenity

• Scenic amenity is an important component of the ongoing community and tourism value of the Outlook. With the development of the kiosk/café at the Summit Mt Gravatt will easily rival Mt Coot-tha as a visitor attraction. The unique indigenous cultural aspects combined with similar views and the excellent track network which, unlike Mt Coot-tha, will be directly accessible from the kiosk/café – a significant issue for tourists.
• The only explicit management guidelines provided, appear to be the arrows marked on the Significant Viewpoint Plan (Appendix Six). Another very important aspect of visual amenity is the actual vegetation adjoining the Summit. Currently this area is over grown with unsightly weeds. See Attachment C.
• Long term enhancement of scenic amenity would be strengthened and maintenance costs reduced by:
  • Inclusion on the site map of specific areas where vegetation height is managed to allow views of CBD and mountains.
  • Specification of those areas as conservation buffer zones to be restored with suitable low growth plants indigenous to the Reserve. Plants for consideration include Smilax Australis (Barbed Wire Vine/Wait-awhile) and Bursaria spinosa (Prickly pine) which have attractive flowers, provide rare habitat for smaller native birds and as the names suggest discourage undesirable incursion by visitors.
  • Provide priority status for ongoing budget decisions by classifying these buffer zones as Recreational facilities ie. maintaining attractive visual amenity and attracting our beautiful native birds and butterflies into close proximity with visitors.
  • Provision of well restored buffer zones will also provide significant protection for the core conservation areas of bushland by dramatically reducing the edge effect of development.