N4C Admin
Become a member
Membership is the best way to start getting involved with N4C, and only costs $10 a year! Download, complete, and return an N4C Membership and Payment Form to complete your membership.
Volunteers needed
N4C welcomes volunteers for all sorts of activities, from administration to technical expertise to weeding and planting in the great outdoors. You will be contributing to a great cause, meeting like-minded people, learning new skills and sharing your skills in a friendly environment. Specific contacts are listed below, but for other information you can always This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or check our Facebook page.
At the moment:
Administration assistance: Help in the office
General office help needed along with IT troubleshooting. We'd love to hear from you! This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Bushcare working bees: Help restore habitat in the Norman Creek catchment
Arnwood Place, Annerley: Weekly working bees, usually Saturdays at 2pm depending on the season. Check Project Details or the Arnwood Place Facebook page.
Bridgewater Creek, Coorparoo (Wembley Park): Irregular working bees. Contact Damien Madden 3391 4235 and check Project Details.
Buranda Bushcare group: Monthly working bees, second Sunday of the month 8-10 am. Check Project Details or our Facebook page.
Cooparoo Finger Gullies Bushcare Group: Monthly working bees. Check Project Details or our Facebook page.
Ekibin Creek bushcare: Check Project Details, the group website or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Glindemann Park bushcare, Holland Park: Monthly working bees, every second Saturday of the month 8-11 am. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Greenslopes DCP site: Monthly working bees. Contact Tim McMaster at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or check out our Facebook page and check Project Details.
Hanlon Park, Stones Corner (Burnett Swamp): First Saturday of the month, 7am - 9am. Contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or check our Facebook page.
Heath Park, East Brisbane: Irregular working bees. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Moorhen Flats, Woolloongabba: Working bees first Saturday of the month, 2pm; additional sessions during the week. Contact Richard Nankivell on 0429332588 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or Fran Thomas 3397 2246 and check Project Details. We also have a Facebook page.
Mt Gravatt Environment Group: Contact Laurie 0409 273 874.
Tarragindi Conservation Park: Irregular working bees. Check Project Details or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Tarragindi Reserve Bushcare, Laura St Tarragindi: Irregular working bees. Check Project Details or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
N4C nursery: Help grow plants for our bushcare sites
Fancy pottering in a nursery, propagating and looking after young plants? Check Project Details or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Ecological Monitoring: Help collect data on catchment ecosystems
Join other volunteers to observe and record plants, animals and other features. Or help type up and summarise the findings in reports for members and the public. Check Project Details or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Maintenance: Help look after our CREEC Centre
If you're good at carpentry, painting or the like, there are always odd jobs to do around our catchment centre (Community Resource and Environmental Education Centre). Help or even advice are appreciated!
Time and Tide: The Life of Norman Creek
Documentary film maker and social historian Trish FitzSimons' first two documentaries about Norman Creek were titled Time and Tide and were produced using support from the Lord Mayor's 'Helen Taylor bequest for Local History'.
Project details
This small patch of bushland helps provide a buffer between the freeway and locals' homes, also adding to habitat resources for birds and animals.
Project details
Current involvement
Norman Creek FREECS* Bushcare Group still meets at the site (*Friends Re-establishing Environmental & Ecological Creek Systems). Works carried out by the group include control of environmental weeds and revegetation with native plant species. These works have provided a mosaic of valuable habitats for wildlife.
Background of the project
Moorhen Flats was former industrial land leftover from the Council's late-1980s flood mitigation works of Norman Creek. In 1993, it was a windswept, grassless waste site, with only a few trees which have become the icon trees of the site. Donna Bowes from the East Brisbane Community Centre was made aware of this former industrial area and it was suggested by a local business owner that it could be made into green space. She coordinated a number of groups for the initial meeting and these groups negotiated for almost a year, with the final decision being to create a bush habitat site.
The first plantings were carried out in 1994 by local residents and diverse members of the community. Large numbers of volunteers turned out for the plantings, and regular monthly working bees have been continuing since 1996. A special experimental project was the construction of frog ponds for Olympic Landcare in 2000 and this could be further developed to recycle stormwater from adjacent industrial buildings.
Download Moorhen Flats illustrated history - 2004 (16MB pdf)
Future of the project
Because Moorhen Flats is adjacent to planned future growth areas, many new opportunities exist, including improved access and safety. N4C is also hoping for positive ecological outcomes such as improved water quality and habitat connectivity. Landscape architect Ashley Nicholson developed a strategic plan for Moorhen Flats, which you can download below. A key element of this plan is daylighting Kingfisher Creek, which is currently piped under the ground. Daylighting the creek would allow for better aquatic ecology and higher water quality; the area would also become a stepping stone for the community to engage with Moorhen Flats itself.
Where is Moorhen Flats?
Moorhen Flats bushland is roughly triangular in shape, enclosed by arms of Norman and Kingfisher Creeks and behind businesses in Deshon Street, East Brisbane. The main entrance is in Deshon Street at its intersection with Main Avenue and Turbo Drive. The other entry point is from Lerna Street via a small bridge across Kingfisher Creek. A cycle track joins these two points.
Project contact details
The bushcare group meets on the first Saturday of each month between 2 and 5 pm. Please join us! Meet near the carpark off Deshon St Woolloongabba, opposite Atherton St. For more information contact Richard Nankivell on 0429 332 588 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or Fran Thomas on 07 3397 2246. We also have a Facebook Page.
Project details
Barr St Park is on Sandy Creek, after it passes through Tarragindi Recreation Reserve. From Barr St Park, Sandy Creek joins the main stream of Norman Creek and then continues to Arnwood Place.
Project details
The headwaters of Bridgewater Creek start in Coorparoo Heights, and consist of four bushland gullies upstream of Majestic Park.
Background of the project
There is a 1907 Council plan which shows the original course of Bridgewater Creek, which consisted of linked deep pools, notably at Greens Gully. The mouth of Bridgewater Creek flowed into Norman Creek, at a point to the west of Coorparoo State Secondary College, near their current carpark. The mouth of the creek is currently located adjacent to Giffen Park (the Brisbane Lions training ground).
The first plantings were carried out in 1984 and 1986 in what was then the tidal section of the creek (in Wembley Park). Parts of the creek are piped underground, and back in 1998, Brisbane City Council hired a consulting group, Connell Wagner, to conduct a catchment study for the whole of Bridgewater Creek. One of its recommendations was for Council to consider a buy-back program to daylight (restore) the upstream section of the creek to supplement the existing stormwater system.
Current involvement
Current plantings in the freshwater section of Bridgewater Creek, Wembley Park, are about seven years old, and the bushcare group in this area is called Bridgewater Creek FREECS - Friends Re-establishing Environmental & Ecological Creek Systems. Students from the nearby Churchie school are involved as part of their curriculum activities. It has also involved corporate and community involvement, and attracted Federal Government and corporate funding.
Recently, N4C was awarded a State Government Grant through the Community Sustainability Action grant program. This will enable a major extension of plantings in the intertidal section of Bridgewater Creek at the northern end of Wembley Park, Coorparoo. This project involves removal of weeds, accumulated litter deposited over many years, and the planting of a high diversity of native tree species to form a riparian corridor for native wildlife. It is hoped to develop a lowland rainforest of South East Queensland plant species. The aim is to achieve ecological enhancement, better waterway health and riparian restoration.
Future of the project
The aim of this project is to carry out riparian restoration of Bridgewater Creek through Wembley Park and if possible, right up to the source which is above Majestic Park in bushland easments in Coorparoo, not far from the water reservoir tower. This would involve daylighting the creek, which means opening up sections which are currently piped underground.
Project contact details
Irregular working bees; contact Damien Madden on 3391 4235 or check our Facebook Page.
Strategic Plans
The following strategic plans have been developed for N4C by Ashley Nicholson, Landscape Architect.
- Bridgewater Creek (7.23MB)
- Majestic Park (2.3MB)
Links
Read about how netballers and the creek could both benefit from a bike path realignment.
Read about the wider impact of cycle paths on waterways.
Acknowledgement
This project is supported by the Queensland Government’s Community Sustainability Action grant program.
Catchment map
Norman Creek Catchment Coordinating Committee presents a comprehensive map of our catchment area.
Norman Creek fly-through
Fly over the Norman Creek catchment area and its project sites.
