Kent Street Sandpit
Formerly a landfill site, the Kent St Sandpit site is scheduled for restoration.
Overview
Kent Street Sandpit
Restoration of the sandpit was a priority for the Friends from the Group’s inception in 1999.
In 2021, the Town of Victoria Park agreed to the full restoration of the Sandpit site ensuring 17.9 hectares of natural bushland in Jirdarup for coming generations.
Restoration of this site to Banksia woodlands is set to be one of a few successfully restored woodland areas.
However, the project is virtually unique and there is a very steep learning curve to all of this. The reality is that not everything will work but there is a lot to be gained from getting in there and getting on with it and learning from our mistakes. It is unrealistic to expect a rapid turn-around as nature works to its own time scales (not ours) and so we must be patient yet optimistic.
(Photo Sandpit 2023. Photo by Derrin Kee for the Town of Victoria Park)
History
Revegetating the Sandpit
It is a desolate area used as a sandpit and landfill from the early 1940s until 1992, used by the WA Small-bore Rifle Association around 1960 and for the storage of construction materials, street sweepings and vehicle washing by the Town of Victoria Park from 1992 to 2006.
During the 1960s and 1970s, it was part of the cross-country track for students from Kent St Senior High School.
Restoration is a challenge ahead. A Site Management Plan prepared for the ToVP in 2017 outlined the state of the sandpit at that time.
The way ahead
Restoration begins
In 2021, the Town of Victoria Park agreed to the full restoration of the Sandpit site ensuring 17.9 hectares of natural bushland in Jirdarup for coming generations.
In May 2022, the Town of Victoria Park agreed to aim for a best practice restoration of the Kent Street Sandpit. The project will
- create a best practice restoration effort with a focus on: (a) ecological restoration of the banksia woodland and development of the understorey; (b) Noongar cultural restoration and considerations
- seek further input from Professor Kingsley Dixon and/or Curtin University, the Mindeera Aboriginal Advisory Group and the Friends of Jirdarup Bushland into the draft design ….
Read more about the research being undertaken at Curtin.
The Detailed Concept Design of the pathways and other structural features was approved by the Council in May 2023, together with funding for this project in the 2023/2024 budget.
Planning for the restoration itself has continued this year, assisted by Curtin University staff and students and Tranen Revegetation Systems. In addition, the City of South Perth Native Plant Nursery and “Nuts about Natives” are involved in this project, collecting and propagating seeds, tissue cultures and cutting from Kensington Bushland to ensure correct local provenance.
Read more about the concept design …
In time, this area too will be a haven for wildlife.