Willoughby Council’s New Bushland and Natural Heritage Advisory Committee

From left: Adrienne Kabor, Scott Graham, Edward Coates, Gay Spies, Meredith Foley, Councillor John Moratelli (not on Committee), Lorraine Cairnes and Ross Wellings. Not pictured: Mark Crew, Kay Donovan

Council has voted to re-establish its advisory committees. During early to mid-March, Council sought expressions of interest from the community in becoming members of these committees, including the Bushland and Natural Heritage Advisory Committee (BNHAC).

Advisory committees provide advice on the development and implementation of Council’s strategic priorities and represent one of the many ways that community members are able to participate in Council decision-making. In particular, the BNHAC will assist Council in achieving conservation of bushland and natural heritage in Willoughby through providing advice on:

Strategic bushland and natural heritage issues and policy development
The implementation of key projects and initiatives
How to raise awareness and promote behaviour change within the community or with existing organisations focused on bushland and natural heritage.

At its 27 March 2023 meeting, Council announced the members of the BNHAC. We have a mixture of familiar faces from the former Natural Heritage and Bushland Advisory Committee (NHBAC) as well as some new ones.

Lorraine Cairnes

Degree in Science majoring in ecological and biological sciences
Former Sydney Water Chief Environmental Scientist
providing environmental education to programs to staff and schools
Committee member for the Environment Institute of Australia and New Zealand (EIANZ).

Edward Coates

Venturer Leader with 1st Sailors Bay Scout Group for 30 years
Co-ordinator of Clean Up Australia Day in Sailors Bay for 23 years
Volunteer with Aboriginal Heritage Office (AHO), assisting with the identification of various Aboriginal sites.

Mark Crew

Griffin Reserves Advisory Sub-Committee member
President of the Castlecrag Conservation Society
Degree in Environmental Biology.

Kay Donovan

Bushcare volunteer for Retreat Reserve
Volunteer for the WCC propagation group
Site monitoring volunteer for the AHO.

Meredith Foley

Secretary of the Willoughby Environmental Protection Association (WEPA)
Willoughby City Council’s (WCC) Environmental Citizen of the Year 2023
Joint Secretary of the Federation of Willoughby Progress Associations.

Scott Graham

Bushcare coordinator for Sunnyside Brushturkeys
Member of several environmental facebook groups
Builds nestboxes for native animals.

Adrienne Kabos

Bushcare volunteer Sugarloaf Creek and Lookout Reserve
Volunteer Total Environment Centre
Member of WEPA.

Gay Spies

A long record of environmental activism
A core member of the Sugarloaf Creek Regeneration project
Vice- President of WEPA.

Ross Welling

Former Ferndale Park Bush Care volunteer
Former bush regen contractor
Studied a Certificate 3 in Natural Area Restoration.

With such a range of skills, experience and qualifications in bushland and natural heritage, we look forward to meeting the new committee members and receiving their valuable contributions in upcoming meetings.

(Article first printed in WCC Bushcare News, 1 May 2023)