RHHFFPS home

Welcome to the Ryde - Hunter's Hill Flora and Fauna Preservation Society.

The Society has been active in local conservation issues since 1966 and is well networked with the broader conservation movement across NSW.
In addition to conservation issues, the Society staffs a visitor centre on weekends at the Field of Mars Wildlife Refuge. All welcome.

Wallumetta newsletters available here

COMING EVENTS

END OF YEAR AND VOLUNTEER APPRECIATION GET TOGETHER – SUNDAY 1 DECEMBER
Help us celebrate the efforts of our active volunteers!
All members and friends are invited to come on an afternoon held early enough for you to enjoy our cool environment and avoid the end-of-year rush.
From 12.30pm a barbecue + salad lunch will be served, and you may have afternoon tea anytime.

PAST EVENTS

BIRD WALKS
On Sunday 25 August our expert Cathy Goswell led two walks from the Visitor Centre at 8.30am & 10.30am. The early walk was well-attended by the birds in the Reserve, but fewer walkers than usual took part in this one. The second walk seemed to be more popular with the walkers.

VISIT BY JEROME LAXALE, MP FOR BENNELONG
Members gathered at the Visitor Centre on Saturday 31 August to welcome Jerome and chat over morning tea. We enjoyed the opportunity to network with our member of federal parliament.

PRE-ELECTION FORUM

On the afternoon of Saturday 31 August, two weeks before the local government (Council) elections, we held one of our traditional forums for candidates to explain their ambitions to achieve and support positive environmental outcomes.
Of the three forums in the East Ryde - North Ryde - Macquarie Park area, ours had the largest audience.

MUSIC ON MARS
Music audience
This major event was held Sunday 22 September in beautiful weather outside the Visitor Centre. With no wind that afternoon, the acoustic quality of the Buffalo Creek valley was at its best.

We began with Marimba Magic by the Sydney Percussion Ensemble, followed by Songs of Today, by singer/songwriter Sarah Cherlin.

Young performer Chester Johnson came next with his Keyboard Wizardry, then Emma Diaz amazed us with a virtuoso recorder performance of three contrasting pieces, concluding with a short recorder duet for one - playing two different recorders simultaneously.

In a tribute to our late and much-loved Jimmy Shaw, the Shawnuff Reunion Swing Band came together for the occasion, and dazzled us with their ensemble of trumpet, saxophone, guitar and double bass – plus keyboard when they invited Chester to jam with them too, so we heard a unique version of Waltzing Matilda!
Shawnuff Band

YARNKNIT RUG RAFFLE PRIZE

Donated once again by Holy Spirit Yarn Group, you could be the lucky winner when the raffle is drawn at the AGM in early 2025. The handmade article is suitable for both winter and summer use. Keep it yourself, give it to a family member or friend or donate to a worthy organisation. Funds raised support the Society and the organisations we support.
Tickets are available at the Visitors Centre or buy online by transfer to our Bendigo Bank account: RYDE HUNTERS HILL FLORA AND FAUNA PRESERVATION SOCIETY INC, BSB 633-000, Account number 190716589.
Include your name and “raffle” in the transaction description, and please email your contact details to rhhffps@gmail.com
One ticket for $2, Three tickets for $5

PRESIDENT’S NOTE -

The City of Ryde has reviewed its tree preservation control plan and has placed the proposed plan (Draft Tree DCP) on exhibition for public comment by Sunday 27 October 2024. The draft changes to the plan may be viewed via this link:
https://www.ryde.nsw.gov.au/HaveyourSay/Have-Your-Say/Draft-Amendments-to-Development-Control-Plan-2014-Tree-Preservation
Section 4 of the document sets out those circumstances where it is not necessary to obtain approval from Council to remove
a tree (ie exempt trees).
Page 8 of the Draft Tree DCP states that the following are exempt trees and therefore do not require Council approval to remove
iv. .......... a tree where the stem of the tree at ground level is within three (3) metres of the outside enclosing wall of legally constructed dwelling or outbuilding of over 20m2.
This is an arbitrary provision that does not take into account the amenity value of the tree, its natural heritage value or its value for local biodiversity.
Section 5 on page 9 of the Draft Tree DCP specifies certain cases where this rule may not apply (eg the trees/vegetation forms part of a heritage item, heritage conservation area, Aboriginal object or Aboriginal place of significance) but such provisions would not apply to most trees located on private property.
The proposed removal of any tree where the stem of the tree at ground level is within three (3) metres of the outside enclosing wall of legally constructed dwelling or outbuilding of over 20m2 should be subject to a risk assessment and environmental impact assessment and mitigation works taken where it is reasonable to reduce any identified risks. The priority should be to retain the tree and removal being a rare event.
Too many trees have been lost in local government areas where such arbitrary rules apply.
Retaining and improving tree cover on private property is essential to maintain and improve biodiversity in urban areas. The rules should not provide for arbitrary removal of trees with amenity, natural heritage and biodiversity values.
Frank Breen, President

About RHHFFPS

The Society has been active in local conservation issues since 1966 and is well networked with the broader conservation movement across NSW.

The Society's Constitution states its Aims and Objectives as:

a. The education of the members and the community, particularly in the local area, in nature conservation and protection of the environment;

b. To promote ecologically sustainable land use and development;

c. To promote nature conservation including an adequate system of national parks, wilderness areas, nature reserves, wildlife refuges and corridors and urban bushland reserves; adequate protection measures for native wildlife;

d. Achieving satisfactory measures to safeguard the environment from all forms of pollution to ensure clean air, clean water and a healthy environment;

e. To work for the permanent retention and conservation of all natural areas in the local district and an increase in the area set aside for nature conservation and

f. To undertake the management of the Field of Mars Reserve with Ryde City Council as a major conservation project

We have a regular newsletter Wallumetta which is issued six times a year which attempts to update members on both local environmental issues and issues of wider impact. Our volunteer members keep the Visitors Centre open each weekend. Please contact us if you have concerns about threats to our local natural areas and the precious native fauna which depend on our sensitive bushland areas and waterways.

History of The Ryde Hunters Hill Flora and Fauna Preservation Society

In the mid 1960s, with an increasing amount of waste needing disposal, Ryde Council looked to an expansion of the small tip in the Field of Mars Reserve. Council proposed to pipe Buffalo and Stranger's Creeks to facilitate a landfill area to a depth of up to 15m feet which could then be re-developed into playing fields. Local residents united to form the Anti-tip Action Group and lobbied to reverse Council's plans for a tip at the Field of Mars. The tip was moved to Porter's Creek which to this day still requires substantial funds to control the environmental damage arising from past use as a tipsite. With the Field of Mars saved the Society was established in January 1966.

In September 1966, Ryde Council advised the Society that it agreed to their proposal to development of the Field of Mars Reserve as a flora and fauna sanctuary. Hard work over following decades has seen restoration of old degraded areas of the Field of Mars and protection of the area as a Wildlife Refuge. A Visitors Centre was built and then the Environmental Education Centre which is visited by about 10,000 students each year.