Our New Town Rivulet restoration project has come a long way since it kicked off earlier this year.
Gone are the old straight lines created by the crumbling concrete embankment we have been pulling out bit by bit. Taking shape are the natural curves of a rivulet making its way out into the River Derwent.
Back to nature
On a site visit earlier this month Anna Wilson, our head of stormwater and waterways, was impressed at just how much has been achieved.
"The old concrete embankments that were built in the sixties had created a very harsh landscape and it's fabulous to see the massive visual difference it is making now they have been taken out," she says.
"Our latest drone shot of the rivulet outlet clearly shows the 'silt curtain' is doing a great job of protecting the bay from sediment created during the earthworks.
"And we've just transplanted a rare and threatened plant called sea clubsedge, lifting it carefully out of the ground and placing it in its new wetland home.
"Additional sea clubsedge plants are being grown, and we hope to see this rare but robust plant recolonise the New Town Rivulet once this project is complete.
"We're also landscaping the banks to open up space for the tens of thousands of wetland plants and grasses to plant here, bringing in an abundance of birdlife and to create new habitat for aquatic wildlife.”
Andrew Stevenson from Wildseeds with a tray of clubsedge ready for planting.
Local interest
Anna says everyone she has spoken to in the neighbourhood loves the project.
"Lots of locals walk through this area and are just so excited to see what it's going to look like, especially the planned new walking tracks and to see what sort of birdlife and plants will be attracted to the area."
“Soon we should see the new tracks take shape, and then we start planting more than 40 000 native trees, shrubs, grasses and other wetland species to create a wonderful rivulet parkland.”
The New Town Rivulet estuary restoration project is a joint venture between the City of Hobart and Glenorchy City Council.
It is on track for completion by September this year.