Marshes won’t bog down enviroment plan for Point Roe in Mosman Park

KEEPING rare stands of salt marsh is a task for a proposed Mosman Park council management plan for 3.3ha Point Roe and its park on the Swan River.

“They hold the foreshore together, are a habitat for birds and crustaceans, strip excess nutrients from the water and their preservation is just another example of the protection we can give without degrading the area,” Mosman Park Mayor Brett Pollock said

The subtropical and temperate marshes at the point’s tip and just downstream, were identified as a threatened ecological community by the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions earlier this year.

A council report said there was no proper environmental program for the area only covered by a plan required by the Swan River Trust when nearby Colonial Gardens was developed in 1998.

The report said the point and its park had steep slopes susceptible to erosion, fragile riverside vegetation, was classed as prone to bushfires and had many weeds.

Creating an ecological management plan for the point would bring it in line with other parts of the town.

Mr Pollock said some trees in the park’s point, such as a nearby pest Japanese maple, should not remain.

However, the council will have to consider all users of the adjacent park, including dog walkers, who after recent changes can have their animals off-lead on the grassed area but on a leash on the point’s beach near shore birds and other wildlife.

At the October meeting, councillors agreed to split evenly $30,000 for new cricket nets at Mann Oval between Roe Point and the already underway environmental management plan for Garanup Park further downstream.

Point Roe’s plan will be advertised for comment for four weeks when it is completed.