The bushcare community of northern Sydney has lost a wonderful contributor with the death in October of Bill Jones at the age of 90. At the funeral, Caleys Pavilion at the St Ives Wildflower Garden was packed out by many people who had worked with Bill and gained the knowledge he shared in his many activities.
The chronicle of Bill’s life, together with his wife Noela Kirkwood – they are inseparable – provides us with a history of the development of bushcare in northern Sydney.
Bill’s was a scientist with CSIRO and his retirement in 1992 opened up a new world immersed in the natural environment. His scientific background gave him the skills to develop a deep knowledge of plants and soils. He was the go-to person to identify tricky plants such as grasses. He often consulted with the Botanic Gardens to confirm the identity of a plant that had been discovered in a bushcare site. His technical knowledge was also put to good use as one of the early members of the Australian Association of Bush Regenerators.
Bill and Noela, a TAFE teacher of bush regeneration and one of the founding members of AABR, were a great team. They were involved with the Friends of Lane Cove National Park from before its beginning. They attended the inaugural bushcare breakfast meetings in 1991, which later led to establishment of Friends of Lane Cove National Park after the 1994 fires.
Prior to moving to West Pymble in the 1990s Bill and Noela were active members of the Ryde Hunters Flora and Fauna Preservation Society. They introduced the Bradley method of regeneration to the Field of Mars Reserve.
Birds were another interest through Birding NSW and the Bird Observers Club. They also developed an extraordinary and detailed knowledge of birds and understanding of how they connected to their local habitats.
Bill ran workshops on grass identification in the remnant of Sydney Turpentine Ironbark Forest at Killara Park. This helped bush regenerators to recognise the value of this remnant of native vegetation that is now classified as critically endangered. They persuaded Ku-ring-gai Council to cease mowing and volunteers started regular work removing weeds to stimulate regeneration. It is now transformed into a diverse multi-layered forest.
Bill’s involvement in saving forests and bush regeneration started when he was a member of the KUBES, the Ku-ring-gai Bushland and Environment Society from 1992. This group was active in changing the attitudes of the Council towards the biodiversity value of native vegetation. They started the longwinded process of saving from development the Blue Gum High Forest in Rosedale Road that eventually became part of the Dalrymple Hay Forest in 2007. STEP was actively involved in this process
KUBES folded into STEP in 1998 and Bill joined the committee until 2002. He led many walks for STEP that were combined with lots of information about birds and plants. He also made major contributions to the activities of the Australian Plants Society (North Shore Group).
Bill and Noela made a great team managing several bushcare sites. One notable site is along Quarry Creek below Yanko Road, West Pymble that has now been beautifully restored with many sightings of wallabies and reptiles. Wallalong Crescent now is a picturesque corridor of native plants. A new site was created near the West Pymble swimming pool that has eliminated balloon vine. Then further up the creek we have another site that this year had many flowers of Dipodium and Cryptostylis erecta orchids.
Bill was very concerned about the development of the synthetic turf field at Norman Griffiths Oval sending emails asking questions and expressing his concerns in his gentle but passionate manner.
Bushcare in Ku-ring-gai will not be the same without Bill but he leaves a wonderful legacy of knowledge and regeneration of our bushland. Our thoughts are with Noela who is also not in good health.
