About Me

Friends of
Bradshaw Park

Who we are
We are a group of dedicated volunteers working to recreate and maintain a haven for indigenous fauna and flora. We aim to also minimise the impact of weeds and feral animals
on the park. To encourage the community to participate in the activities of the park and gain practical experience in looking after park. To disseminate educational material about the park and related matters.
Friends of Bradshaw Park was established over fifteen years ago. Our floral emblem is the Showy Bossiaea (Bossiaea cinerea) and our faunal emblem is the Spotted Pardalote (Pardalotus punctatus).
If you would like to help, or learn about bush regeneration or just want to join the group, come to one of our sociable working bees. You will learn plant identification, propagation, tree planting, weeding and park maintenance.

Above and left - Bradshaw Park March 2007
Like everywhere else around Melbourne the
park has been affected by the drought, which
has been with us for about ten years now, and
keeps people wondering as to when it will break.

Where is the park?
Melbourne, Australia in the bayside suburb of Mordialloc. On the corner of White Street and
Nepean Highway (Melway map 87 reference E10).

A potted history
The park has been both an army depot and a Country Roads Board depot and in 1972 in a neglected state some concerned locals decided to develop the park as a native plant reserve.
the area was fenced off in 1975 and the storage shed subsequently built.
The Friends’ group was established in May 1990 with Council assistance.

The park is a 2-hectare (5 acre) sanctuary for no less than 135 species of indigenous plants and 40 species of birds (33 being native) - we have free copies of the bird and fauna lists.
Bradshaw Park is an important bush area in the heart of the suburbs that needs careful management and plenty of tender loving care from a dedicated Friends’ group.
Do join us.
Working bees are held from 10am to about 1pm on the third Saturday of each month except January. Coffee and tea provided and BYO lunch.

The new fence
April 2010
We finally got a new fence. The old one had been hit by cars, vandalised and generally looked
pretty rough. We had hoped for a feral-proof fence but that proved to be not possible.
Anyway the new fence with its low post and rail - well we shall see the overall impact on the flora and fauna of the park.
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Gabby’s sign has been installed. Kingston Council installed the new sign last December (2009).

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Keysborough’s Coomoora Woodland Reserve is under threat by VicRoad’s desire to extend their Dingley Arterial through the Springvale Road side of Coomoora Woodland Reserve. Which would effectively reduce it by almost half. The park shouldn’t be sacrificed for the sake of another freeway.

“Coomoora Reserve Coalition”:http://sites.google.com/site/coomoora/home

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Rubbish
It has been an eyesore for quite some time. The seemingly never-ending accumulation of rubbish outside the park fence along the highway looks like being dealt with regularly. We understand that Citywide will be cleaning up along the fence on a regular basis.
June 2009 Working Bee
A good turnout – six turned up. The weather was mild, overcast with no wind, which was good for planting. We planted about 200 ground-cover species and twenty trees in BRs 8 and 10. Interestingly, while planting we also encountered some old relics from Bradshaw Park’s “previous life”, including an unidentifiable piece of crumbling metal and some crockery (you could almost imagine somebody’s scones and butter on the then plate) and old bricks. We checked Peter Brunning’s memorial Snow Gum – it is still doing well. Thank you to Gavin for offering to water the tree weekly during May and June. We will continue to water it at each working bee.

From The Newsletter May 2006

At our working bee in March (18th), it was a mild and sunny autumn day. While we were weeding, I noticed several little skinks on the ground, obviously disturbed while enjoying the sun. They were heading for cover under logs.
I have often noticed these little lizards on sunny days in the park. They are not generally noticed or appreciated very much due to their small size, but I always feel lucky to see them and to have so many of these beautiful little reptiles in the park.

Contact Friends of Bradshaw Park
fobp@netspace.net.au
P. O. Box 35 Mentone, Victoria, 3194 Australia
Telephone (03) 9583 8682

All images copyright Friends of Bradshaw Park ABN: 92 822 536 306 No. A0034606M