New South Wales Projects & Sites
Rouse Hill Landscape Restoration
introduction / case-study report / overview / images / location / Projects
Landscape Architect: AECOM
Location: Rouse Hill (Sydney) New South Wales
As listed as A Case Study for the AILA's 2008-2009 National Climate Change Project
Introduction
BUDGET $3.5 million
AECOM undertook design, documentation and periodic inspection of the works for the landscape restoration of 16 hectares of stormwater infrastructure in the Rouse Hill Development Area in Sydney's north-west growth sector. Landscape restoration works include bushland reconstruction and regeneration to all areas within the 1-in-100-year flood zone, incorporating channel reconstruction, detention basins and bushland remnants. Most of the works area has been under agricultural management since the early 1800s, and therefore has a very high weed seed load.
The works aim to restore plant associations characteristic of the two endangered ecological communities that inhabited the site prior to European settlement: Cumberland Plain Woodland and River-Flat Eucalypt Forest. All plant material used was of local provenance, with a total of 1.7 million plants installed, including some 50 species.
Our team of environmental specialists guided the design process for detention basins and new watercourses to accommodate floodwaters and fully-structured natural communities, including full ground, shrub and mid-stratum and canopy layers. New site soil stripping and reinstatement processes were developed for the project to conserve important existing soil landscape properties and buffer the works from chemically hostile sub-soils. Site soil was used for all works.
At 15 months into the plant establishment period, the restoration works were exhibiting substantial species diversity and excellent plant cover, as well as substantial germination from the first year of seed drop. The restoration is on track to create a low-maintenance, relatively self-sustaining and diverse locally endemic plant community within what will be a highly urbanised setting.
Additionally, a one-hectare experimental plot was established to monitor the direct seeding of a select suite of native grasses, in order to assess the potential of the process to provide a simple and low-cost alternative to initial site stabilisation, weed suppression and conventional mass planting landscape restoration approaches. Results were highly encouraging, with several species exhibiting excellent plant cover, germination of off-spring and weed suppression characteristics.
The method has the potential to facilitate a new low-cost, longer-term approach to broad acre landscape restoration, in lieu of current mass planting practices. The results of the experiment were documented and presented as conference proceedings.
introduction / case-study report / overview / images / location / Projects
uploaded June 2010
