Biobanking investment at Fairy Meadow

FAIRY Meadow’s historic Puckeys Estate looks set to become the city’s first biobanking site following a successful application from Wollongong City Council.
Council has applied for $800,000 in funding from the Office of Environment and Heritage to establish a Biobanking Agreement for Puckeys.
Council will now enter into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Office to establish the biobanking site.
The grant funding will be placed in a Biobanking Trust Fund, with annual payments made to Council in perpetuity. The payments from this fund will be used to implement a range of management actions at the site, including vegetation management, pest management and other conservation initiatives.
Wollongong Lord Mayor Gordon Bradbery said this is wonderful news for a popular site on the city’s foreshore.
“Puckeys Estate is a remarkable story of one part of the city’s development. Council has been working with volunteers in this area to ensure that it is returned to a natural and interesting site which is a popular area for walking and sits alongside the shared pathway on Squires Way.
“The site includes three endangered ecological communities and there are records of five threatened fauna species, so this fund will help Council manage the ongoing threat from weeds and pest animals,” Cr Bradbery said.Council will now prepare a Plan of Management for the site. This will be reported to Council in July and the Plan of Management will be placed on public exhibition following this report.
For further information call (02) 4227 7111.