Dog track was bushcare site

The extension of Araluen Drive that winds around the waterfront from Hardys Bay to Pretty Beach has always been and still is treasured by many people in the community.

Known as the Dog Track, it is walked by numerous people every day, with or without dogs.

It is also found to be a practical by-pass to Heath Rd by bike riders including the children who ride their bikes to school.

However, the edge of the track used to be a tangle of weeds, mainly lantana and asparagus so people saw the need to improve it.

There were volunteers willing to work and Gosford Council ran a Bushcare Program and so, initiated by the then Pretty Beach Wagstaffe Progress Association (now the Community Association), they were called on to help.

The first meeting of the group was held on Saturday, October 20, 2001, and was a great success with 18 people attending.

Council's Bushcare officer Robyn Urquart outlined the basic principles of bush regeneration and the method of removal, appropriate for each of the most common weeds found in the area.

The group walked the track identifying both native and weed species and put the knowledge into practice for the first time.

Council supplied the tools and the group was away.

Originally, there were two sites, the Dog Track and Bulkara Ave, Wagstaffe Point.

The latter site was cleared of weeds within a relatively short while so the group turned their effort to the Dogtrack and, years later is still trying to eradicate the weeds found there.

Much of the Lantana has been removed and natural regeneration has taken place but bidens pilosa, black-eyed susan, moth vine and morning glory are just the more commonly known weeds that are still found there.

CD-ROM, 2010

David Dufty, The Bouddi Peninsula