Bald Hills Bushies
Barungwarra Bushland Reserve, Bald Hills, Brisbane
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What’s Happening - 2023

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© B. Clifford for Bald Hills Bushies 2020 Tree beds are referenced by the name used by busties to identify them. Names and locations of these beds are indicated on the maps.

Barrungwarra Drive Pine tree survey.

Bald Hills Bushies have been attending meetings with the

Queensland TMR Gateway Motorway Upgrade

environmental team for about 3 years now. At each

meeting, we have been given updates on the progress of the

project including maps and the results of environmental

surveys. in late 2022, the team held a series of community

consultations where members of the public could check out

the latest plans and discuss the proposals with TMR staff.

The proposal was to expand the Bruce Highway into a part

of Barungwarra drive and one visiting community member

expressed some concern that the Bunya pines along Bald

Hills Road would be removed. The Gateway team had not

considered this aspect and Bald Hill Bushies did not have

much knowledge of their location as that area is not a part

of our usual work area.

Bald Hills Bushies conducted a survey of the trees which

exist in the area which may be effected by the upgrades,

included the area along Bald Hills Road and Barungwarra

Drive from the Strathpine Road junction to the bend in

Barungwarra Drive near the Dog Off Leash area.

On completion, the report was submitted to the TMR. You

can download a copy of the report here

PIne Trees near Barungwarra Drive turnoff

Barungwarra Drive Access plan.

There is a current proposal regarding the future of the old Hymix, which lies just north of

our work area, to build a large environmental and sports area with high and low ropes

courses, a Golf Driving Range and many other similar activities. The project has raised

questions as to how the Hymix site will be accessed when the Gateway motorway

reconstruction begins . Our Bushies became involved because several of the proposals

involved changed access through Barungwarra drive or a different access to our work area.

Bald Hills Bushies undertook a detailed study of the proposed changes and submitted a

report showing advantages and disadvantages of the different options. Our

recommendation was to retain the current access as the other options were all

problematic.

One part of the proposal was to move the Barungwarra Drive junction from it’s current

junction near Attunga Street to somewhere just past Gundulf Street. The plan was to

widen the Bruce Highway by taking about one half of the current Barungwarra Drive and

turning the other half into a footpath and cycling track. This would force the Boat Ramp

traffic to travel almost the full length of Bald Hills Road before turning into Barungwarra

Drive. TMR conducted a survey of Residents in Bald Hills Road and there was a strong

result against the proposal. As a result, the Gateway team are now looking at alternatives.

Scouts environmental project. Scouts from Bald Hills Scout Unit are working on an Environmental special interest badge and , as part of the testwork, they have been tending to 6 Forest Red Gums. These trees are the Koala’s favourite Food. On Saturday 19th August, 4 Scouts attended the Bushes meeting and planted the trees at Barungwarra Bushland Reserve. The scouts received the trees as Tube Stock in June and learnt how to re-pot the seedlings, and then cared for them in their homes. They also learnt about how bushcare groups work, and the tools needed, and safety aspects of Bush Care work. After completing the planting, the scouts took a tour of the Barungwarra site, visiting the swamp, the bridge and our Marine Turf area and spotted a bush turkey. They also visited the Scar Tree and learnt about the aboriginal use of tree bark as a coolamon (Food serving dish) or as shingles on a bark hut. Bush Turkey Coolamon Marine Turf Shingles on a bark hut
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