Site Profile: 77 Woolley St, Taringa

What "Men of the Trees" means to me
By Dick Cribb

Most of my working life as a Dentist I spent confined within 4 walls of my dental surgery in the city of Brisbane and I always enjoyed living in Woolley St with the spacious bush at our back door. In 2003 I sold my private practice and retired from regular dental practice. We live only about 6kms from the CBD of Brisbane and in 1966 we built our home on land in Taringa which had been part of an estate owned by Miss Brunick. She had kept this land as it always had been (rain forest) and it had become her bird sanctuary. After she died houses appeared on the land of the estate of which ours was the last built in 1967. Fortunately we were able to buy 2 adjacent allotments on the estate, one of which was immediately adjacent to the Hillsdon Kindergarten (1.25 acres mostly virgin bush) on its northern boundary. The eastern boundary of both allotments is adjacent to the oldest freehold Scout property in Australia (about 5 acres), Taringa Scouts.

During the 40 years we have lived here we have seen the character of the bush in both these properties change from natural rain forest to weed infested scrub. Strangers often dumped (with complete immunity), multiple loads of all sorts of rubbish and weeds at the end of the dead end Woolley St (where we live), onto the Kindergarten land. Queensland Box, Bunya pines, Silky Oak and other large eucalypts had to compete with weeds such as cat’s claw, dodder weed, ochna, chinese elms, brazillian cherries, wandering jew, palm trees and every other imaginable weed. The Scout property was similarly affected. Over the years many of the larger trees succumbed to the weedy infestation and died.

So after retirement from regular dentistry (I was never a knowledgeable or even enthusiastic gardener but my wife Betty is) I found pleasure in being able to both enjoy the outlook of (natural) bush and at the same time have a challenge to try to restore the bush to its original grandeur and to maintain it as best we could. One of our near neighbours, Ken MacAdam retired from accountancy at about the same time I did from Dentistry. Ken and his wife Jenny also have an interest in nature. I would often find the MacAdams clearing weeds at the same time Betty and I were.

About 3 years ago my cousin Pam Rudder was involved with a group restoring bushland along Taringa Parade and the Men of the Trees were assisting this group to restore the area of bushland adjacent to Mt Cootha. After talking to Marion Goward of “Men of the Trees” they offered to assist us in our bushland endeavours by visiting with their group on a Saturday morning from 9am to noon with a group of enthusiastic volunteers to weed and clear rubbish from the Kindergarten property at first then later the Scout property as well. This marvellous group have assisted us about 6 times in the last 2 and bit years.

Because of their association with Greening Australia they have been able to provide (free of charge), 200 – 300 plants in the form of trees and ground cover, to plant after clearing the weeds. By letter dropping nearby properties of these working bees there has been increasing interest shown in this bushland by the local community. Local people presented at Saturday working bees. One person gave a small donation – because she “is too old and infirm to physically assist”. At the last working bee the Men of the Trees had an Indian religious group of volunteer young men assisting to clear the area, to help plant trees etc and to spread wood chip. Of course the Kindergarten have also assisted by providing groups of parents at working bees and a recent committee member and mother organised a planting by the children and parents at last years Christmas break up party on the area we are trying to re-establish. The Kindergarten committee has also agreed to recompense expenses for poison etc and last bee provided a bin for collection of garden rubbish. In addition they have had rubbish removed that was collected by Ken and I. The last committee member in charge of the grounds had all the Cocos Palms on their property cut down.

I feel everyone associated with this activity is a winner. The Kindergarten have their property looked after, the local residents maintain their outlook on natural bushland (maintaining and enhancing monetary value), the locals get to know one another better, Brisbane “breaths better” and we get great exercise in our retirement.

Our small group still have a long way to go before the entire area is under control. However the enthusiasm and practical assistance provided by Men of the Trees has been of great assistance to our small group in maintaining the bush and has encouraged our group’s enthusiasm for continuing our activities in this area of bush regeneration.

April, 2008