Landscape and Biodiversity
Landscape Consultative Committees and development of Landscape Management Plans
The Callaghan Campus Landscape Consultative Group was established in late 2009 to play a key advisory role to Facilities Management to provide a forum for consultation with, and feedback from, the University community regarding the development, management and maintenance of the natural landscape spaces. The Committee has been holding a series of meetings to discuss ideas and management directions as part of the drafting of the Landscape Management Plan. This Plan will be drafted in 2010 by the University's Environmental Manager.
Facilities Management proposes to establish a Consultative Group for the Ourimbah Campus in 2011 and to develop a strategic Landscape PLan to capture the ecological communities and landscape management needs.
The 140-hectare Callaghan campus of the University of Newcastle has undergone considerable change to its general amenity, land use and vegetation characteristics since its establishment in 1965. Just prior to the University, the land was predominantly cleared due to mining and agricultural activities, with part of the site formerly being a Council rubbish tip.
For the first 25 years of the University campus the landscape was managed predominately under a turf maintenance and rural style of management regime. From the 1990s there was a shift to a focus on enhancing the bushland setting across the campus through a period of active revegetation as part of the University's aspirations around the following bushland campus principles:
- To preserve the bushland character and image of the University
- To maximise retention of the original vegetation where possible as building development proceeds
- To use Australian plant species (indigenous preferably)
- To maximise retention of rainwater on site
- To maintain the creek valley as a natural reserve
- Landscape works must provide a safe and usable environment minimising potential risk to people, buildings and property
- Efficient and effective utilisation of financial and human resources available to maintain and revitalise the bushland
Over time the density and coverage of native vegetation has increased markedly across the campus. While the revegetation activities have delivered a bushland campus identity for the University, it also brings with it a range of other campus management consequences and considerations which must be planned for in a strategic manner.
Stemming from this activity, there is also a range of stakeholders with knowledge of the bushland sections of the campus and a keen interest in its future management. While there is an array of documentation that presently informs our landscape management operations, there is a need to shape the key recommendations and the visions of the various bushland campus stakeholders into an overarching strategic Landscape Management Plan.