Nicolle Flint (Boothby, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

During my election campaign, I was delighted to secure a $200,000 commitment towards the Wirraparinga trail loop at Brownhill Creek. This was delivered through a Green Army project, and the project has just concluded. Brownhill Creek is a very special part of my electorate. It sits in the Adelaide foothills and contains significant local Kaurna Indigenous heritage and European heritage as well as several endangered plant and animal species. It happens to be where my mum spent a lot of time with her cousins when she was growing up, and it is a short walk from where I currently live in Mitcham. For all of these reasons, it is a place of particular personal and community interest. I'm really lucky to have it in my electorate. In fact, in my office here in Parliament House, I have a beautiful painting by one of my very talented local artists, a lady named Irma Denk, that's called A Brownhill Creek Summer Day.

I'm just one of many people in my electorate who appreciate the significance of Brownhill Creek, and I would like to pay tribute to all of my local residents and community groups who came together on the Wirraparinga trail loop project. I commend the Green Army team, who upgraded two kilometres of the trail and removed seven hectares of woody weeds, assisting in the rehabilitation of the grey box grassy woodlands and endangered species, and improving water quality in the creek. They conducted GPS mapping of the area, flora and fauna surveys and habitat rehabilitation for the southern brown bandicoots, which are also an endangered species.

As I mentioned, my local community groups played a key role in the project. These included the Rotary Club of Brownhill Creek, the Friends of Brownhill Creek, the Brownhill Creek Association, the Mitcham Historical Society and the Mitcham council—and I thank them all. Most thanks, though, must go to the Brownhill Creek residents association, in particular chairperson Professor Wayne Meyer, who lives nearby and works at Adelaide university's Waite campus, and to the community liaison officer, Mr Ron Bellchambers. Mr Ron Bellchambers is a remarkable member of our community. He tirelessly lobbied both me and the community groups I've mentioned for funding and support for the project. His passion for and dedication to the Wirraparinga trail loop and the Brownhill Creek Recreation Park and ensuring a healthy native ecosystem in the area was recognised when he was awarded the City of Mitcham's Citizen of the Year award in 2016. Ron has been and remains crucial to the ongoing success of the Wirraparinga trail loop and the preservation of the cultural significance of the site. At the event in October, the Green Army graduates remarked how Ron would be out there every day with them, rain or shine, to help and provide direction.

I encourage everyone to visit the Wirraparinga trail loop, which is not far from another local icon, Carrick Hill. Together they provide a wonderful, unique tourist and local attraction, combining natural, Indigenous and European heritage.

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