By Angus Dalton Display boxes in the Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan HerbariumCredit: Rhett Wyman Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time Within minutes of slipping into the back rooms of the Australian Botanic Garden at Mount Annan it is clear the research facility is more akin to a zoo than a greenhouse Botanical body parts resembling reticulated possum tails and giant scorpion stingers pickle in jars Green tendrils wriggle out of seeds in refrigerated corners The scent of drying eucalypt oil flavours the air and a full-length mirror in a hallway whirrs aside to reveal a secret entrance “This is the most biodiverse spot in the country We’ve stepped through to a room filled with racks of drying flannel flowers and all manner of foliage curing between TV guides from last month’s Herald Its walls are a bank-vault style concrete cube mounted with a 500-kilogram fireproof window The spot Summerell is referring to is beyond a second heavy freezer door: the inner sanctum of the PlantBank’s seed vault Professor Brett Summerell opening the cryo storage dewar at the Botanic Garden PlantBank.Credit: Rhett Wyman That reveals a room the size of a shipping container set at minus 18 degrees about the temperature of a kitchen freezer There are rows of metallic silver bags filled with seeds; a growing collection of Australian plants The PlantBank contains material from about 20 per cent of Australia’s seed-bearing flora in a conspicuous pile of yellow envelopes: the pollen of a corpse flower The blooming of Sumatran superstar “Putricia” at Sydney’s Royal Botanic Garden last week became perhaps the biggest moment for botanic science in the city’s history. Millions watched Putricia’s fronds inch apart online and 27,000 people queued – many for more than three hours – to snatch a two-minute glimpse and a malodorous whiff Putricia’s fame was boosted by the garden staff’s commitment to theme within her retro glasshouse; think the camp-goth aesthetic of Little Shop of Horrors a Lynchian vibe summoned by a mist machine and dreamy classical music and a stench worthy of Nosferatu’s undergarments Putricia in full bloom last Thursday night.Credit: Janie Barrett During her fleeting flowering, horticulturists scraped away Putricia’s pollen with a dessert spoon director of horticulture at Botanic Gardens of Sydney whisked the packages to Mount Annan in the dead of night Now the precious granules are subject to the same study many hundreds of plants have undergone: can the pollen withstand minus 20 degree temperatures For a critically rare Sumatran plant with a wild population of 400 seed bank manager Dr Nathan Emery is bent over a microscope peering down at perfectly round globules dyed cobalt blue The pollen has been treated with a concoction of chemicals and sugars replicating the sticky “stigma” (female pollen-seeking) organ of a corpse flower which will trigger the pollen to germinate if it’s viable Putricia the corpse flower’s pollen germinating with plant ovary-seeking tubes through a microscope.Credit: Rhett Wyman but we are starting to see some pollen tubes coming through,” Emery says These pale tendrils normally grow down into the flower to fertilise a plant’s ovaries triggering the production of fruit and seeds While recent days have been all about Putricia, for years scientists at this facility have studied how to best store Australian plant species and test how they’ll react as the weather turns more extreme A resident liquid nitrogen-filled dewar – a cryogenic storage flask – that can store 30,000 specimens in suspended animation serves as the ultimate long-term safeguard But not all species can withstand the snap-freeze the cells of many rainforest plants explode Those species are kept alive in the tissue culture lab where plants are painstakingly propagated over and over in sphagnum moss and solutions of agar sometimes spiked black with toxin-draining charcoal in the tissue culture lab.Credit: Rhett Wyman There are hundreds of palm- to fingernail-sized plants ranging from underground Rhizanthella orchids to lilly pillies and native guava “Most of the species here are affected by the exotic introduced disease myrtle rust which came into the country in 2010,” Summerell says About 16 different species are on the brink of extinction huge potential host range; all of the Myrtaceae family lilly pillies – 20 per cent of Australian flora The ruthless fungal disease savages growing leaves stops fruiting and can rapidly kill a plant preserving as many diverse individuals as possible of these life-support cuttings is crucial Genetic diversity is the ammo of evolutionary resilience One of these tiny sprouts may contain the DNA key to myrtle rust resistance immunity may could one day be crafted with gene-editing tool CRISPR decimated in the wild by myrtle rust.Credit: Rhett Wyman It’s a really complex question,” Summerell says “At the moment we’re just looking for natural resistance using true and tried techniques that are less controversial and less expensive.” We head outside – past a murky pool of floating marshwort sprouting yellow and a grevillea that thrusts its blooms onto the ground so they look like spiky red millipedes – and enter an enormous shaded nursery a subtropical shrub with hairy leaves rescued from the cloud forests of northern NSW and southern Queensland Some were grown from cuttings gathered by plant collectors who rappelled down cliff faces to reach every specimen they could This is the world’s population right here in front of you,” says Siemon Staff regularly douse the shrubs in fungicide; spores of myrtle rust are so pervasive that even here the fungus would alight on their leaves and commence its attack but keeping species from the brink is only a fraction of the services offered here We meet identification expert Andrew Orme within the garden’s herbarium He’s squinting at the pages of a 130-year-old Bible “It’s my great uncle’s Bible,” says Norm Small a member of the public who brought in the enormous tome Norman Small bought his great uncle Charles Edward Small’s Bible to the herbarium at Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan to help identify plant material found within.Credit: Rhett Wyman There are slender brown daisy seeds dried onto Samuel 2:12-16. In other pages, Orme has uncovered fragments of pansies and peas. The herbarium holds a library of 1.4 million species – recently digitised – that help identify plant material from the biblical to weeds that sicken cows In the air-locked concrete vaults of the herbarium – strictly quarantined against bugs such as cigarette beetles which could devour the lot – rows of red boxes hold preserved lichen clinging to bark and red seaweed dried on a page like steamrolled fairy floss Summerell produces a banksia flower gathered in April 1770 by botanists Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander struck the Great Barrier Reef later that year; the banksia we are looking at was laid out on the ship’s sails to dry near what is now called Cooktown in Queensland Banksia serrata specimen collected by Joseph Banks in Botany Bay The banksia made it to Banks’ private collection in England and was eventually repatriated to Australia in the 1900s to join 833 of his specimens Its seafaring journey exemplifies the international trading web that makes a botanic garden “Last year we distributed to 35 institutions around the globe in the United States and around Australia,” Siemon says standing in a nursery of young Wollemi pines The prehistoric trees grow in black studded pots with holes for their roots to grow out – they’re reminiscent of dinosaur hides The pink fronds of Kallymenia rosea algae reach from a storage unit.Credit: Rhett Wyman every single Wollemi in the wild is represented in this nursery Thirty years after their extraordinary discovery in a secret grove the pines now aren’t uncommon in backyard gardens there’s enough to lose yourself within the fronds You feel their mythology bearing down on you as though the shade they cast carries weight Scientists still gather seed from wild Wollemis – which has historically involved a collector dangling from a steel cable slung from a helicopter – in the never-ending quest for more genetic gunpowder as in zoos with critically endangered animals we have a “meta population” spread across the globe Another six baby plants were sent around the globe recently as yet another back-up “They’re surprisingly adaptable,” says Summerell “They grow beautifully in the south of England.” Every wild pine is represented in this nursery population.Credit: Rhett Wyman The importance of the global lifeline has never been sharper Several species of the root-rotting pathogen Phytophthora (the scientists’ second nemesis after myrtle rust) have infected the wild Wollemis but that takes hundreds of litres delivered by air Injecting the treatment creates an unwanted wound Summerell’s team are working on a non-invasive treatment that can permeate bark But that’s just disease risk; Black Summer could have razed them all and more and more exotic impacts are happening,” Summerell says “The need to do all of this work across all 25,000 species of Australian species of plants is becoming more and more urgent.” Botanic Gardens of Sydney’s new chief executive The style of conservation work is practically identical between the institutions Simon Duffy joined Botanic Gardens of Sydney as CEO last year from Taronga Zoo.Credit: Wolter Peeters Duffy was overseas when Putricia’s skirt began to part, but he raced back and managed to catch the end of the show last Friday. He says a spate of recent corpse flower bloomings – in Geelong (named Casper) London (Unnamed) and Boston (Dame Judi Stench) – is partly a consequence of enormous public interest in the plants which has led to a direct boon in the conservation efforts of corpse flowers and the work of botanic gardens generally which demonstrates how much people love and adore plants in nature,” Duffy says despite our current situation where we’re facing some very wicked problems The Examine newsletter explains and analyses science with a rigorous focus on the evidence. Sign up to get it each week \\u201CThis is the most biodiverse spot in the country probably,\\u201D says Professor Brett Summerell We\\u2019ve stepped through to a room filled with racks of drying flannel flowers and all manner of foliage curing between TV guides from last month\\u2019s Herald The spot Summerell is referring to is beyond a second heavy freezer door: the inner sanctum of the PlantBank\\u2019s seed vault The PlantBank contains material from about 20 per cent of Australia\\u2019s seed-bearing flora The blooming of Sumatran superstar \\u201CPutricia\\u201D at Sydney\\u2019s Royal Botanic Garden last week became perhaps the in the city\\u2019s history Millions and 27,000 people queued \\u2013 many for more than three hours \\u2013 to snatch a two-minute glimpse and a malodorous whiff Putricia\\u2019s fame was boosted by the garden staff\\u2019s commitment to theme within her retro glasshouse; think the camp-goth aesthetic of Little Shop of Horrors and a stench worthy of Nosferatu\\u2019s undergarments The pollen has been treated with a concoction of chemicals and sugars replicating the sticky \\u201Cstigma\\u201D (female pollen-seeking) organ of a corpse flower which will trigger the pollen to germinate if it\\u2019s viable \\u201CIt\\u2019s early days at the moment but we are starting to see some pollen tubes coming through,\\u201D Emery says These pale tendrils normally grow down into the flower to fertilise a plant\\u2019s ovaries \\u201CIt\\u2019s looking quite promising.\\u201D While recent days have been all about Putricia for years scientists at this facility have studied how to best store Australian plant species and test how they\\u2019ll react as the A resident liquid nitrogen-filled dewar \\u2013 a cryogenic storage flask \\u2013 that can store 30,000 specimens in suspended animation serves as the ultimate long-term safeguard \\u201CMost of the species here are affected by the exotic introduced disease myrtle rust which came into the country in 2010,\\u201D Summerell says lilly pillies \\u2013 20 per cent of Australian flora \\u201CMy research focuses on plant diseases so this one\\u2019s very close to my heart.\\u201D It\\u2019s a really complex question,\\u201D Summerell says \\u201CAt the moment we\\u2019re just looking for natural resistance using true and tried techniques that are less controversial and less expensive.\\u201D We head outside \\u2013 past a murky pool of floating marshwort sprouting yellow and a grevillea that thrusts its blooms onto the ground so they look like spiky red millipedes \\u2013 and enter an enormous shaded nursery This is the world\\u2019s population right here in front of you,\\u201D says Siemon \\u201CIt\\u2019s crazy,\\u201D Summerell says We meet identification expert Andrew Orme within the garden\\u2019s herbarium He\\u2019s squinting at the pages of a 130-year-old Bible \\u201CIt\\u2019s my great uncle\\u2019s Bible,\\u201D says Norm Small \\u201CWhen my grandson was going through it There are slender brown daisy seeds dried onto Samuel 2:12-16 Orme has uncovered fragments of pansies and peas The herbarium holds a library of 1.4 million species \\u2013 \\u2013 that help identify plant material In the air-locked concrete vaults of the herbarium \\u2013 strictly quarantined against bugs such as cigarette beetles which could devour the lot \\u2013 rows of red boxes hold preserved lichen clinging to bark and red seaweed dried on a page like steamrolled fairy floss struck the Great Barrier Reef later that year; the banksia we are looking at was laid out on the ship\\u2019s sails to dry near what is now called Cooktown in Queensland The banksia made it to Banks\\u2019 private collection in England \\u201CLast year we distributed to 35 institutions around the globe in the United States and around Australia,\\u201D Siemon says The prehistoric trees grow in black studded pots with holes for their roots to grow out \\u2013 they\\u2019re reminiscent of dinosaur hides the pines now aren\\u2019t uncommon in backyard gardens there\\u2019s enough to lose yourself within the fronds Scientists still gather seed from wild Wollemis \\u2013 which has historically involved a collector dangling from a steel cable slung from a helicopter \\u2013 in the never-ending quest for more genetic gunpowder we have a \\u201Cmeta population\\u201D spread across the globe \\u201CThey\\u2019re surprisingly adaptable,\\u201D says Summerell \\u201CThey grow beautifully in the south of England.\\u201D Several species of the root-rotting pathogen Phytophthora (the scientists\\u2019 second nemesis Summerell\\u2019s team are working on a non-invasive treatment that can permeate bark But that\\u2019s just disease risk; Black Summer could have razed them all \\u201CThe environment is changing so quickly and more and more exotic impacts are happening,\\u201D Summerell says \\u201CThe need to do all of this work across all 25,000 species of Australian species of plants is becoming more and more urgent.\\u201D Botanic Gardens of Sydney\\u2019s new chief executive but he raced back and managed to catch the end of the show last Friday He says a spate of recent corpse flower bloomings \\u2013 in London (Unnamed) and Boston (Dame Judi Stench) \\u2013 is partly a consequence of enormous public interest in the plants \\u201CShe sparked an interest in the community which demonstrates how much people love and adore plants in nature,\\u201D Duffy says despite our current situation where we\\u2019re facing some very wicked problems \\u201CAnd she was a great inspiration story.\\u201D The Examine newsletter explains and analyses science with a rigorous focus on the evidence Viva Energy Australia has switched on a brand new ultra-fast charging site at the Reddy Express in Mt Annan This adds important location to Australia’s expanding EV charging infrastructure The new site aims to provide reliable and fast charging for electric vehicle owners travelling through the area The new site boasts 2x chargers with dual-CCS2 connectors you’ll need to download the OTR EV app to activate and pay for charging Charging is charged at a flat rate of $0.70 kWh and as an incentive to move your vehicle when you’re done it’ll cost you $1/min after an initial 10 mins illuminated lighting at night and is located close to Grocery shopping “Our team has worked tirelessly to bring this vision to life ensuring we deliver fast seamless charging with an exceptional customer convenience offer,” Delivering this kind of infrastructure involved a collaboration between Viva Energy For more information, head to https://www.vivaenergy.com.au/mobility/electric-vehicle-charging or find it on Plugshare From the newest gadgets to the latest software releases we've got you covered with up-to-date information and expert analysis Stay ahead of the curve and explore the world of technology with us today Contact us: jason@techAU.com.au jolly displays are already spreading joy across Sydney neighbourhoods Credit: Christmas Light SearchIt’s the most wonderful time of the year — which means it’s time to be dazzled by houses lit up with festive cheer But when it comes down to looking for homes decked to the nines in decorations and walk-through displays it can be a bit tiresome if you don’t know where to go Get the first look at the digital newspaper curated daily stories and breaking headlines delivered to your inbox Get the NewsletterBy continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.Co-founders Lachlan Kennedy and his cousin had always enjoyed getting into the festive spirit and visiting Chrissy lights when they were kids so when they decided they wanted to develop a website The duo kicked off the Christmas Light Search directory in Melbourne in 2008 with 40 light displays driving around and adding all the best Chrissy lights to the site manually “Once the website got going after a few years it became apparent that we had created a really useful platform for homeowners to promote their displays on and this has motivated us to keep it going ever since,” Kennedy said The site is user-friendly and allows anyone to add their Christmas display to the map for free “Despite cost of living being the ‘theme’ this year we haven’t noticed a drop in the number or quality of Christmas Light displays around the country,” Kennedy said adding many owners take months to put together their magical displays “We are finding homeowners embrace elements like snow and bubble machines opening up their driveways for kids to dance in (with music giant moving LED characters and inflatables Kennedy said popular trends this year were light arches and garage door projections He added that it was always special when homeowners got involved by dressing up as Santa or other popular characters or hosting community raffles “We find Christmas displays these days have evolved to be much more than just about the lights.” At 7 South Street, Tempe you’ll find a massive Christmas light display “the whole family will enjoy” “With donations supporting Maggie’s Rescue this display offers a Santa chair and photo-ready setups that are perfect for capturing some epic Christmas selfies,” Kennedy said while grown-ups can enjoy strolling through the display spotting beloved characters like Bluey and the Minions illuminated in Christmas lights.” Kennedy said the owners “love putting up the Christmas lights because it brings joy and smiles to people” Kennedy said this display can be enjoyed from the comfort of your car “Tune in to 99.5FM and marvel at 95,000 LED lights dancing across the façade of the house There’s even a lit-up archway to take a photo under.” Supporting the Alannah and Madeline Foundation this light show has been running every Christmas for over 20 years and takes over a month to set up “The owners love putting up their Christmas light display because they get to see the little kids and grown-ups’ smiles,” Kennedy said or walk up the driveway to see the thousands of dazzling light sculptures covering the entire front of this property,” Kennedy said there’s plenty of fun to be had finding the hidden decorations “The owners are also raising donations for Lights for Kids — make sure to place them in the box before the Grinch grabs them!” dazzle with their colourful lights displays and inflatables “From Santas to candy canes to snowmen and Christmas trees these truly are pretty displays,” Kennedy said “Walk up one driveway to inspect the inflatables and hanging lights above — and covering the house — to then walk up the one next door where you must be sure to look up!” Kennedy said the houses have been lighting up the night with their decorations for a couple of years now “The owners love putting up their Christmas lights as they love to see the kids happy.” the Christmas lights are winding and colourful Kennedy said this massive display takes over a month for the owners to set up “Walk through the arches and stars to see the lights sparkling around until you get to the dazzling presents and photo location for some Christmas memories,” he encouraged “Be sure to snap a shot with the festive Santa hat and shimmering 2024 bauble for the perfect holiday moment with family and friends,” the owners said filling the front yard and decorating the garage the owners have clearly made the most of their space — filling it with colourful hanging lights there’s even an English village inside the front windows Kennedy said he loved “the colour co-ordination and creativity” “The space is not over burdened with lights,” Kennedy said He said the owners “love putting up their Christmas lights because it brings joy to the area” setting up Christmas lights is a family tradition running for more than 20 years all donations go to supporting SCHF Lights for Kids “Visitors will enjoy the full Christmas nativity scene lighting up the front fence and house including Santa’s sleigh being pulled by reindeer,” Kennedy said “The drop lights make the house look like magic glittering in the night and there’s even a huge dove to take photos under.” Kennedy said “the best thing about this display for the owners is seeing people is filled with Christmas fun at this house — life-sized animated statues archways to walk under and lots of lights,” Kennedy said “It will definitely give you a Christmas smile,” the owners said The display runs until January 1st for two hours each night until 10pm — the snow-like lights decorating the entire front of the house are definitely photo-worthy “The best thing about this display are the LED Christmas stars levitating from the roof and the mega LED tree,” Kennedy said He said the “owners love putting up their Christmas lights as it brings so much joy to the community” the owners take pride in their show-stopping flying Santa Nothing like it anywhere else,” Kennedy said there’s still plenty to look in awe at—over 25,000 twinkling lights and a towering four-meter white Christmas tree make perfect backdrops for photos and a chance to support the Shirley Cuff Cancer Research Foundation in honour of the owner’s aunt — and you’ve got an evening to remember.” He said the owners love putting their Christmas lights up because it “brings joy to everyone who sees them” “Walk down the drive under the double inflatable archways and check out this mega house up close,” Kennedy said inflatables and cute Christmas characters on display provide heaps of awesome photo ops Kennedy described it at as “one of the best displays in Sydney” “It’s easy to see why it takes the owners over a month to set it all up,” he said Latest EditionEdition Edition 5 May 20255 May 2025All-powerful Anthony Albanese says give me some R.E.S.P.E.C.T Local residents are urged to lace up their joggers for the Campbelltown City Challenge Walk returning to the Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan on Sunday 9 March Gates open at 6.30am and both the 6km and 11km courses kick off from 8am participants can opt into the popular Colour Burst featuring a vibrant shower of coloured powder at two points along the route “The Campbelltown City Challenge Walk continues to grow in popularity giving participants of all ages and ability levels a chance to enjoy a day out in our natural spaces,” said Mayor of Campbelltown Darcy Lound food vendors and live music will also be on offer with an awards presentation following the 11km race In-person registration at Campbelltown Civic Centre closes on Friday 28 February at 4pm, while online registration wraps up on Wednesday 5 March at 11.59pm here: https://www.campbelltown.nsw.gov.au/Whats-On/Campbelltown-City-Challenge-Walk Designed by Elegant Themes | Powered by WordPress The end of winter tends to lift spirits as colour returns to gardens But the too-soon blooms have become worryingly consistent chirping birds – and climate alarmThis article is more than 8 months oldThe end of winter tends to lift spirits as colour returns to gardens The Western Australian plant has since been joined by a host of spring-blooming flowers attracting animals who would typically wait for warmer months “I’ve noticed birds and insects [appearing] because of all of the flowers,” says Mandy Thomson the acting horticulture manager at Cranbourne’s Royal Botanic Gardens “New Holland honeyeaters and wattle birds and little fairy wrens everywhere Kangaroo paws bloomed early this year Photograph: Royal Botanic Gardens VictoriaEven the kangaroos are running early with joeys emerging from their mothers’ pouches much sooner than normal An early spring is in full swing across the country, as global heating-fuelled blasts of warmth – accompanied by the odd thunderstorm – deliver one of Australia’s hottest Augusts on record Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup Wattle buds are popping up as the snow melts away in alpine Jindabyne while the gentle aroma of jasmine is wafting through storm-stricken suburban Melbourne In the Australian Botanic Garden at Mount Annan in Sydney’s west paper daisies arrived a couple of weeks ahead of schedule for the second year in a row and it normally pops [in] at least the first week of spring,” says Chris Cole Paper daises at the Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan Photograph: Glenn Smith/Botanic Gardens of SydneyWhile the gardens in Cranbourne and Mount Annan once faced weeks of frost keeping early blooms at bay in years gone by “It means that they can just flower really early and successfully,” Thomson says mild weather in the country’s south has kept the winter plants like wattles grevilleas and banksias flowering as the seasons change “There’s a layer of kangaroo paws and little flowering daisies and then all the wattles flowering above that spring and winter flowering all occurring at the same time,” Thomson says Sign up to Afternoon Update: Election 2025 Free daily newsletterOur Australian afternoon update breaks down the key election campaign stories of the day telling you what’s happening and why it matters Chris Cole, horticulture supervisor at the Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan. Photograph: Botanic Gardens of SydneyWhile varying weather can create overexcitement about early spring from year to year, rising temperatures and earlier blooms are becoming increasingly consistent. Every year Sydneysiders call Prof Brett Summerell, the chief scientist at the city’s Botanic Gardens, to ask whether spring has come early or whether they’re just imagining it. last year and this year it’s been more than just imagining,” he says Shorter winters and longer summers will keep dragging spring forward as global heating accelerates Australia’s average temperatures are already 1.5C higher than in 1910 “We’re seeing the temperature we normally expect on the first day of September just creeping earlier and earlier,” the University of Melbourne climate scientist Linden Ashcroft says There’s nothing really that climate change isn’t touching these days.” John Denny and Karen Grima of Little Bean Café in New South Wales on their transition from the world of pubs and pints to cafés and cappuccinos – and how roaster Piazza D’Oro facilitated the move When taking over an already established café new owners often face the challenge of striking the balance between injecting their own personality and keeping existing customers happy Change too much and happy regulars might go elsewhere; be complacent and you might miss out on a whole new market For experienced hospitality and marketing professionals the process of taking over Little Bean Café in Mount Annan was made much easier by the café’s existing partnership with roaster Piazzo D’Oro “Little Bean Café has been established within the Mount Annan Marketplace for around eight or nine years and we’re the third generation to run it,” says John “We are now in our fourth month at the café and we’re really enjoying it it’s really diverse – from families visiting the playground area to shoppers picking up a coffee on the go and retirees stopping by to catch up with friends.” The 50-seater venue serves a mix of takeaway and dine-in customers throughout the week and cakes complementing the Italian-style coffee “Being in the hospitality industry for more than 25 years we had the opportunity to switch to one of the other coffee suppliers we’d worked with previously but we were really happy with the blend Piazza D’Oro was already supplying,” says John The coffee in question is Piazza D’Oro’s Mezzo blend which Karen and John describe as “a characteristic coffee with notes of milk chocolate and caramel The medium-roast Rainforest Alliance-certified coffee is the brand’s flagship blend we sat down with Matthew Green from Piazzo D’Oro and went through the products and how they could assist us,” says John “We also spent time talking to the locals to find out what they thought of the coffee but the feedback we received was overwhelmingly supportive of us continuing with Piazzo D’Oro.” it was this customer feedback and the support Matthew provided that ultimately won him and Karen over John says the Piazzo D’Oro team touched base daily and helped them ease into café life Matt still pops in almost every week to see how we’re getting on,” says Karen “When we had an issue with a grinder recently he went above and beyond to ensure we were up and running again as quickly as possible.” As well as providing coffee and maintenance support Piazzo D’Oro also helped Little Bean Café 3.0 off the ground with marketing assistance and materials New flags and banners in the car park with both companies’ branding draws attention to the café and shows customers where they can get their hands on a cup of Piazzo D’Oro coffee “The team have also helped us out with loyalty cards and offer a promotional fund for us to utilise which we’ll take advantage of in the coming months,” adds John With less than six months at Little Bean under their belt building trust and loyalty with their customers before making any grand changes or introducing too many new ideas “We anticipate making some changes in the future but for the moment we’re focusing on doing the basics well with nearly all five-star reviews online,” says John This article appears in the August/September 2024 edition of BeanScene. Subscribe HERE From packer to sales manager at the age of just 25 Blake Carpenter of The Bean Cartel reveals how his.. Unlock the perfect coffee pairings with BeanScene's guide to milk and dairy alternative options From the dawn of the frappé to the TikTok-famous whipped coffee MONIN charts the rise of signature drinks and how.. BeanScene Magazine is committed to promoting enhancing and growing the coffee industry in Australia as it’s coffee news has captured the attention of coffee roasters and many of the auxiliary products and services that support the coffee industry in Australia and around the globe All content published on this site is the property of Prime Creative Media Eric Kontos The Macarthur Centre for Sustainable Living (MCSL) at Mt Annan is set to close when funding from Campbelltown Council runs out before Christmas Letters of support from local state and federal MPs urging council to reconsider its decision to end its $150,000 annual sponsorship did not receive any backing at Tuesday night’s meeting The decision to withdraw funding permanently was made in May Neither the representations from the MPs nor an online petition signed by almost 900 people swayed councillors on Tuesday night Campbelltown City council has been financially supporting MCSL since 2010 says withdrawing the funding has dire consequences on MCSL Narellan Men’s Shed and the Macarthur Beekeepers “We can continue operating until September than we may have to close our gates,’’ she said In making the decision to cut its $150,000 annual funding Campbelltown Council said it was not getting value for money from MCSL It pointed out that while MCSL is located within the Camden local government area that council only provides $30,000 in funding Wollondilly Shire Council axed its funding of $20,000 in the 2020-21 financial year A report to Campbelltown Council in May gave reasons why it should withdraw its sponsorship It said Campbelltown residents make up less than half of total users of the centre Campbelltown’s cost per workshop participant is estimated to be approximately $560 It is difficult for Campbelltown residents to access the centre via public transport and the centre is in the Camden LGA “Campbelltown City Council currently has no direct board representation resulting in the centre having no accountability to Campbelltown City Council.’’ “aspires to be a world-class education facility and model for the promotion of sustainable technology and living practices in homes In the most current statements submitted to the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission MCSL describes its community objectives as: • encouraging the community to adopt sustainable lifestyle choices to make a positive difference to the environmental sustainability of the Macarthur region and beyond • providing an attractive place of environmental excellence where visitors will see sustainability in action have access to experts and a range of opportunities to develop their own knowledge • MCSL pursues this mission through community education workshops  • MCSL delivers demonstrations of sustainable technologies including a solar system and battery storage root zones systems for processing sewerage onsite and hydro panels to produce safe drinking water from the sun facilitated 76 workshops and 23 excursions 82 sessions of the Little Explorers preschool programs with 30 per cent of participants from Campbelltown It is estimated that approximately 40-50 per cent of visitors to the centre live in the Campbelltown LGA This is sad but as the building is there why not have a call in hub for domestic violence people Mayor Ashleigh Cagney held a Women’s round table on Thursday and the overall agreement was to have a Macarthur hub to cater for all the wonderful teams who can show what their organisations do to assist domestic violence sufferers Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value" the South West Voice is a free news website which serves Macarthur and Liverpool © 2023 South West Voice • All Rights Reserved • Proudly Supported by Simply WordPress Sydney Look out for your first newsletter in your inbox soon We help you navigate a myriad of possibilities Sign up for our newsletter for the best of the city By entering your email address you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and consent to receive emails from Time Out about news Sign up for our email to enjoy Sydney without spending a thing (as well as some options when you’re feeling flush) By entering your email address you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and consent to receive emails from Time Out about news, events, offers and partner promotions. Sydney because with a whopping 416 hectares of space (that’s bigger than Central Park in New York City) Mount Annan is one of the most important conservation sites in NSW Mount Annan is in the Macarthur region – it’s part of Camden Council and Campbelltown City Council These gardens are home to native flora from across Australia and there are even plenty of native animals to spot.  but some of our favourite sections include: the Connections Garden when the gardens host an annual wildflower display.  There are barbecue and picnic areas, including in the beautiful Bottlebrush Garden. The Fruit Loop Garden is full of plants used in traditional medicine and as food. From Sundial Hill, you get a fab look back over Sydney and across to the Blue Mountains And then there’s the Stolen Generations Memorial designed by sculptor Uncle Badger Bates to pay tribute to the many First Nations peoples taken from their families.   Keep an eye out for wildlife throughout the garden lizards – and snakes (don’t worry though; just don’t walk through long grass!) You can take part in nature photography sessions; they often hold bushcraft lessons during the school holidays; you can buy plants to take home; and there’s also a mountain bike trail for those who like action sports.   You can drive to the gardens and easily park – being just 60km from Sydney’s CBD it should take you under an hour to get there.  You can also get to the gardens by public transport – take the T8 train line towards Campbelltown jump on a bus from there towards Mount Annan then there’s a 2-kilometre walk (from the bus stop to the garden’s visitor centre) It’s free to go to Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan So pack a picnic or barbecue stuff for a great The Garden’s Cafe is open from 8.30am to 4pm every day But there are also nice picnic and barbecue spots if you want to BYO food and drink the gardens are designed to be wheelchair accessible but cycling is also a great option that allows you to see more of the gardens just drive to the gardens and then park the car that one is the highest botanic garden in all of Australia) Head over here Stay in the loop: sign up for our free Time Out Sydney newsletter for more news Thanks for subscribing! Look out for your first newsletter in your inbox soon! twitterinstagrampinterestAbout us Contact us By Julie Power A waratah in bloom at the Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan.Credit: Wolter Peeters The highly Instagrammable lavender haze of the South American import jacaranda in Sydney’s streets can help raise awareness of the threat to native plants including floral emblems the waratah and the wattle The sharing of photos of jacarandas next month when they begin to bloom – or the cherry blossom in spring – and the popularity of music by artists such as Taylor Swift who sing about plants and animals could heighten public awareness of the worldwide threat to biodiversity Jacarandas and cherry blossoms may even be gateway plants to an appreciation of other species, and treatment for a phenomenon known as “plant blindness”, where members of the public don’t appreciate their importance to biodiversity and society. They may notice animals, but see plants as a “large green backdrop”. was this month added to the federal government’s national list of threatened species It is one of four NSW waratah species and a close relative of the state’s floral emblem Botanic Gardens of Sydney director of horticulture and living collections John Siemon with one of the many flowering waratahs More than 100 species of wattle are also listed The Biodiversity Council says since the arrival of Europeans in Australia at least 35 plant species have become extinct and 1437 more are recognised as at risk of extinction said threatened native plant populations have lost 75 per cent of their numbers illustrating the need to step up efforts to stop further extinctions a research associate in the threatened Rare and Endemic Plant Research Group at the University of NSW said Swift’s songs were used in an experiment that helped students overcome “plant blindness” among young people The inability to see plants means if they don’t notice them Swift was described in The New York Times as “singing us back to nature” The song All Too Well talks about autumn leaves falling down like pieces into place was added to the federal government’s national list of threatened species.Credit: @katesadventureseas on Instagram Environmentalist Jeff Opperman from the World Wildlife Fund wrote that Swift’s lyrics and album covers abound with references to nature “Gold was the colour of the leaves when I showed you around Centennial Park.” Doyle thinks crowds flocking to see mass displays of introduced species such as jacarandas or cherry blossoms was positive “Anything that encourages people to notice different species is great “Mostly I think people aren’t just yet fully aware of the stunning array of native plants or how to find them It takes time and practice to distinguish more than just ‘a green plant’ when walking in our landscape “Familiarity with our Australian plants takes time and an ‘eye’ One of the flowering waratahs at Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan.Credit: Wolter Peeters Botanic Gardens of Sydney director of horticulture and living collection John Siemon said Australia’s 24,000 native species were as spectacular and diverse as introduced plants The exclusively native gardens at Mount Annan attracts huge crowds to its mass displays of native paper daisies “There is definitely an Instagram movement that people are obsessed with getting these mass flower fields in the background for that massed effect so you have that ‘wow’ moment that shows native plants are absolutely not boring.” Australian Native Plants Society president John Aitken said it was unfortunate the Australian community did not seem as keen on native flora as they were for exotics such as the jacaranda “There could even be an element of cultural botanic cringe – if it’s from overseas it’s better,” said the society’s secretary Rhonda Daniels an expert on Australia’s 1000 species of wattles Now flowering in NSW’s botanic gardens at Mount Tomah the waratah narrowly missed becoming the floral emblem of Australia Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter The highly Instagrammable lavender haze of the South American import jacaranda in Sydney\\u2019s streets can help raise awareness of the threat to native plants The sharing of photos of jacarandas next month when they begin to bloom \\u2013 or the cherry blossom in spring \\u2013 and the popularity of music by artists such as Taylor Swift who sing about plants and animals could heighten public awareness of the worldwide threat to biodiversity Jacarandas and cherry blossoms may even be gateway plants to an appreciation of other species and treatment for a phenomenon known as \\u201Cplant blindness\\u201D where members of the public don\\u2019t appreciate their importance to biodiversity and society was this month added to the federal government\\u2019s national list of threatened species It is one of four NSW waratah species and a close relative of the state\\u2019s floral emblem said Swift\\u2019s songs were used in an experiment that helped students overcome \\u201Cplant blindness\\u201D among young people The inability to see plants means if they don\\u2019t notice them Swift was described in as \\u201Csinging us back to nature\\u201D Environmentalist Jeff Opperman from the World Wildlife Fund wrote that Swift\\u2019s lyrics and album covers abound with references to nature \\u201CGold was the colour of the leaves when I showed you around Centennial Park.\\u201D \\u201CAnything that encourages people to notice different species is great I\\u2019d love it if they could notice natives \\u201CMostly I think people aren\\u2019t just yet fully aware of the stunning array of native plants or how to find them It takes time and practice to distinguish more than just \\u2018a green plant\\u2019 when walking in our landscape \\u201CFamiliarity with our Australian plants takes time and an \\u2018eye\\u2019 Botanic Gardens of Sydney director of horticulture and living collection John Siemon said Australia\\u2019s 24,000 native species were as spectacular and diverse as introduced plants which is a strange selection choice.\\u201D \\u201CThere is definitely an Instagram movement that people are obsessed with \\u201COur paper daisy display has been created for that massed effect so you have that \\u2018wow\\u2019 moment that shows native plants are absolutely not boring.\\u201D \\u201CThere could even be an element of cultural botanic cringe \\u2013 if it\\u2019s from overseas it\\u2019s better,\\u201D said the society\\u2019s secretary Rhonda Daniels an expert on Australia\\u2019s 1000 species of wattles Now flowering in NSW\\u2019s botanic gardens at Mount Tomah About 93 per cent of Australia\\u2019s plants Start the day with a summary of the day\\u2019s most important and interesting stories Our newsletter hand-delivers the best bits to your inbox Sign up to unlock our digital magazines and also receive the latest news This huge botanic gardens takes up a huge 416 hectares which makes it bigger than Central Park in NYC You can see native flora and fauna from across Australia Want to know more about the Australian Botanic Garden, Mount Annan, how to get there, and what activities you can do when you're there? Get all your FAQs answered over here. Stay in the loop: sign up for our free Time Out Sydney newsletter for more news Camden Council has announced a new operator for its Mount Annan Leisure Centre Camden War Memorial Pool and the soon to open has 17 years’ experience in the management and operation of aquatic and leisure centres and will take over operation of the facilities from 1 July The company currently operates 62 facilities across the country “The tender process involved more than just price we wanted to make sure the community was getting the best value in terms of service “A partnership approach with the new operator is really important to Council and I’m looking forward to working with BlueFit to see the programs and initiatives they deliver for the community “I would like to thank The Y NSW for their support and commitment to the community during their management of Mount Annan Leisure Centre and Camden War Memorial Pool.” Todd McHardy said he felt “privileged to be selected by Camden Council for the operation of the two existing leisure facilities in Mount Annan and Camden and to launch the new Oran Park Leisure Centre “Our goal is to Inspire Community Activity which starts with a smooth management transition for the benefit of existing staff “Our experience managing multiple facilities for various NSW communities is advantageous in ensuring this transparent partnership with the council asset management and delivery of quality local services are all a success,” he said Information and Events for Local Councils throughout Australia Contact us: newsdesk@insidelocalgovernment.com.au   The Australian Botanic Garden at Mount Annan will undergo a $200 million transformation as part of the NSW Coalition Government’s $5 billion Westinvest fund Under a master plan being prepared by The Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust new features will include biodome greenhouses entertainment and event space and trails and active transport connections The funding of $200m is from WestInvest so is not contingent on the election result Member for Camden Peter Sidgreaves said it was a major win for the people of South Western Sydney “The Australian Botanic Garden is such an important public space for the people of Camden and this investment will make it even better catering for the needs of our growing population and playing a vital role preserving precious plant species,” Mr Sidgreaves said.   “The new Coolamon Lake water feature will become a major drawcard there will be spaces for people to relax and gather with friends and family “The Garden will become a major entertainment hub with a new series of event spaces to cater for world class events to attract national and international talent.” cities and active transport Rob Stokes said new biodome greenhouses will provide a new attraction to expand and display a broader range of Australian plant diversity at the Garden and for scientific research purposes “We’re putting the park in the heart of the parkland city Eastern Sydney has its harbour and beaches and Western Sydney will be defined by freshwater lakes and verdant parklands,” Mr Stokes said “WestInvest quite literally uses a motorway to fund a greenway paths and playgrounds for Western Sydney families to enjoy “The new biodomes will complement the Garden’s existing world class science facilities including the award-winning Australian PlantBank and the new National Herbarium of NSW which is home to over one million plant specimens.” Check out The Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust Master Plan for the Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan here. The one thing missing,which would bring more visitors Some people would enjoy a cup of coffee or a bite to eat after they had toured the gardens I have often looked to go to the gardens to just enjoy an outing and a sit down cuppa with friends Camden Council has chosen BlueFit to manage and operate the Mount Annan Leisure Centre and the new $63 million Oran Park Leisure Centre a family-owned company with 17 years of experience Mayor Ashleigh Cagney emphasized the importance of service and facilities in the selection process and looks forward to a collaborative partnership with BlueFit “A partnership approach with the new operator is really important to Council and I’m looking forward to working with BlueFit to see the programs and initiatives they deliver for the community,” Cr Cagney said She thanked The Y NSW for their support and commitment to the community during their management of Mount Annan Leisure Centre and Camden War Memorial Pool expressed gratitude for being selected and aims to ensure a smooth transition and successful management He highlighted their goal to inspire community activity and leverage their extensive experience for the benefit of local services BlueFit will begin managing the facilities on July 1 staff and volunteers have been going through about 70,000 boxes in a mammoth undertaking to digitise the collection Outside the Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan in south-western Sydney are four shipping containers with freezers inside more than a million plant specimens will be cycled through the containers each spending about a week in the cold to rid them of any insects It’s an important step in a large operation to relocate the National Herbarium of New South Wales from the Royal Botanic Garden in Sydney to a new facility at the Mount Annan site the collection will be moved into vaults that have been cleaned and fumigated and are temperature-controlled at 16C with 45% to 50% relative humidity to prevent insect infestations and mould Thousands of storage crates ready to be moved to the new Mount Annan site. Photograph: Carly Earl/The Guardian“Just about any plant you get growing in the bush is probably represented in our collection,” says Hannah McPherson, the herbarium’s collections manager. “We have really iconic Australian plants like wattle, eucalyptus and Sturt’s desert pea. “And then there are more difficult-to-manage things like cactus and stinging trees and palms that we have to house in a different way by hanging them in lockers.” Read moreThe relocation will mark the end point for another project that will make the herbarium – which is not physically open to the public – much more accessible to researchers and the broader community staff and volunteers have been going through about 70,000 boxes in a mammoth undertaking to digitise the herbarium’s collection It’s the largest mass digitisation of a natural history collection undertaken in the southern hemisphere and by the time it is completed there will be a digital record of 99% of the specimens the herbarium holds The process has allowed staff to do something that had never occurred at the herbarium before They’ve looked at every specimen the facility holds which covers Australian and global locations and dates back to samples taken in the 1700s The old herbarium at the Royal Botanic Garden of Sydney Photograph: Australian Institute of Botanical Science“Something that most people don’t know is that institutions like this one don’t know everything they have,” says the herbarium’s digitisation manager “The Royal Botanic Garden is now the longest-running scientific institution in Australia If you’ve got things that have been collected since that time “There are also other [facilities] that close down and send us their collections It’s just not possible to keep up with that kind of input you’ve lost track of everything you have.” every specimen was given a QR code and put on a conveyor belt that had cameras at the mid and end points A member of the digitisation project Photograph: Carly Earl/The GuardianSensors would read the label images were taken and auto-cropped and the specimen was then packed into a trolley Each specimen spent about two seconds in front of the camera “You’re getting about 4,000 images a day going through,” Badiou says “You can imagine just with a camera if you had a million plants to take photos of it would take forever.” The images were sent to the Netherlands-based digitisation company Picturae some for internal use at the herbarium and others that are being uploaded to Amazon Web Services for scientists and the public to access a specialised transcription service based in Suriname has also been working with herbarium staff to transcribe handwritten labels into digital records Parietaria debilis collected by Joseph Banks and Daniel Soldander Photograph: Royal Botanic Garden SydneyEventually every specimen will end up on the Atlas of Living Australia and infrastructure is in development to make the whole collection more searchable items were discovered that herbarium staff had not realised were in their possession These include two specimens that pre-date the herbarium’s existing special collection of 824 specimens Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander collected in Australia in 1770 a herb native to Australia and New Zealand that Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander collected the same year from Tolaga They will be added to the special collections vault at the new state-of-the-art building at Mount Annan The digitisation process also uncovered previously unknown illustrations in the specimen boxes including work by the Australian botanical artist Margaret Flockton It has resulted in a doubling of the herbarium’s illustration library which is also being digitised and will remain at the Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney Most of the specimens the herbarium holds were collected by botanists Older samples are markers of colonialism and the white There are also samples collected by gardeners bushwalkers and farmers trying to identify plants on their properties or orchid collectors who travel the world just to see one particular plant Digitisation project manager Andre Badiou Photograph: Carly Earl/The GuardianBadiou says one particularly important collection is from a woman who followed her husband to remote Western Australia dried and wrote about plant life on a property in a part of the country that is not represented anywhere else in the more than 1 million specimens About 8,000 new items are added to the herbarium each year McPherson recently gave a talk to a group of poets using the specimens for inspiration and the site runs an identification service that is often called upon to identify items in criminal or poisoning cases McPherson says anything related to looking after the environment also ends up coming back to the specimens in some way The completed digitisation project will open the herbarium up on a scale that hasn’t been possible previously Read moreThe herbarium is part of a global lending and borrowing network that involves sending physical specimens to facilities all over the world for scientific research. The new images are of such high quality that researchers may no longer need to work with the actual physical specimen. “The point of the herbarium specimen is not just to be a plant in a collection, it’s a plant that represents a time and a place,” McPherson says. “We don’t just learn about that plant but a whole landscape and that landscape through time.” That includes looking at how a landscape has changed, how human activities have changed and reduced plant populations, and how the climate crisis is affecting plants – all the way down to leaf shape. “We could do that to an extent before but now there is just so much more we can do that will help us with our science,” she says. ABC News News HomeCurious Sydney Link copiedShareShare article"A jewel in the crown" seems a perfect description for Sydney's unique Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan, the largest botanic garden in the Sydney region to focus entirely on native plants. On Sydney's western outskirts, the garden spans more than 400 hectares, and over the last 29 years has grown to feature about 2,000 native plants and become a major scientific research and conservation centre for NSW flora. For our first question to Curious Sydney, Carolyn Wright asked: "Who were the geniuses who acquired the land, or who decided to acquire the land for Mount Annan Botanic Garden?" Carolyn is a retired high school teacher who's lived in the Macarthur region for 40 years and has seen the area around Mount Annan and Narellan transformed from dirt roads to thriving suburban development. She's fascinated by the foresight of those who made the decision to create such a large green space in what has become such a heavily populated area. "It's one of those things that shows someone or some people were thinking very hard about the future. "Now with Macarthur being such a heavily populated area and growing all the time it's obvious that we needed some kind of open public space like that. To my eyes it wasn't obvious at the time." Botanists Lawrie Johnson and Don Blaxell with Senior Assistant Scientific Director Barbara Briggs, planting the first eucalypts in the arboretum at Mount Annan. (Supplied: The Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan) Curious Sydney discovered that the main drivers of the project were botanist Lawrie Johnson, the then-director of the Royal Botanic Garden, and botanist Don Blaxell, who was assistant director of Living Collections at the time. Dr Peter Cuneo started work on the Garden in 1986, and he's paid tribute to the role played by these two botanists in getting the project off the ground. "Both of those guys were great eucalypt botanists and this aspiration to have an entirely native garden and to grow some of these big plant families like eucalypts was certainly an aspiration for the Royal Botanic Garden," he said. Dr Johnson is considered a critical figure because the main elements of planning, construction and planting were put in place in his time. The Department of Planning set the land aside in the 1980s, and that combined with a strong push by two botanists at the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney and support from the then Premier Neville Wran sealed the decision. The Duke and Duchess of York officially opened the garden at Mount Annan in 1988. (Supplied: Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan) Dr Cuneo said a key point was the upcoming Bicentenary. "So we had a rising sense of nationalism and an Australian native plant garden made sense and of course Neville Wran announced this as a major Bicentenary project in 1984," he said. The garden was officially opened by the Duke and Duchess of York on October 1988, as one of the state's Bicentennial projects. When former Premier Barry O'Farrell removed the entry fee in 2011, visitor numbers tripled. NSW Department of Planning and Environment sent Curious Sydney a statement giving a bit more detail about its role in the garden's establishment. "The land that is now Mount Annan Botanic Garden was purchased in 1968 by the then State Planning Authority, chaired by Nigel Ashton AO," the statement said. "Known now as the Department of Planning and Environment, the State Planning Authority purchased the land for scenic protection, intended for regional open space." An early view of Connections Garden in 1988, the year the Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan was established. (Supplied: Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan) Fauna refuge - over 160 bird species, mammals such as the wallaroo and frogs, lizards, snakes and spiders Carolyn Wright told Curious Sydney she believes the garden is a place for future generations with its focus on the conservation of plants and seeds and she's delighted by the wildlife. But she said she loves it simply because it's so big and spacious. "There are all sorts of walking paths that go through things like remnant Cumberland woodland where there's a beautiful memorial to the Stolen Generations, there's gorgeous lakes, interesting plants if plants are your thing and there's all sorts of beautiful places where it's really quiet and lovely. Manager of seedbank and restoration research at Mount Annan, Dr Peter Cuneo, in the Connections Garden. (ABC News: Sue Daniel) From a horticultural point of view, Dr Cuneo said what visitors see today is a quite amazing landscape of woodlands conserved, grasslands and horticultural exhibits. "I guess I'm biased but given the scope and scale of Mount Annan I really do see this as the jewel in the crown for the Royal Botanic Gardens because it just simply offers that amazing focus on our unique flora and provides future opportunities for the development of the garden and this site." Curious Sydney's Carolyn Wright. (Supplied) Carolyn Wright has lived in the Macarthur area for 40 years after moving there from Wollongong. She started walking in the Mount Annan garden after work and continues to visit regularly. She wants to thank those who were behind the decision to establish the garden. "Thank you! What else can I say, it's been such a great pleasure in my life and it's so good for everybody else too. CNN and the BBC World Service which is copyright and cannot be reproduced AEST = Australian Eastern Standard Time which is 10 hours ahead of GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) With Wests Tigers celebrating Junior League Appreciation Round ahead of our Round 20 clash against the Warriors on Friday night we’re excited to recognise some of the amazing Junior Rugby League officials and volunteers We caught up with Mount Annan/Currans Hill Knights Volunteer I first became involved at Mt Annan Knights in 2011 when my eldest son was playing Under/8s joining as a team manager and then Leaguesafe (trainer) My initial reasons for getting involved were because the coach was asking for assistance and nobody else put their hand up I had very little to do with footy prior to this  I was then involved with that team in particular all the way through their Junior footy watching these young boys grow into young men was such a great experience followed by the club secretary in 2016 and 2017 Moving to club registrar in 2018 - Current I am also the club registrar for the Knights Senior club Over the years I have assisted with the local junior representative program and volunteered my time as a trainer at other grounds/clubs when required The absolute best thing about Grassroots Footy is bringing the community together boys and girls from all walks of life have somewhere to come together and have fun make friends and learn some great skills along the way The friendships I have watched grow at footy have been just awesome Seeing players when they are going through tough family situations always know they have somewhere to go surrounded by people that care I would encourage anyone and everyone to get involved even something as small as a few hours on the BBQ or in the canteen can be a huge relief to some overworked committees If you have a child playing or even if you're just interested in the sport get down to your local club and offer your time as a volunteer The Australian Botanic Garden at Mount Annan is one of four popular Western Sydney locations where shared e-scooter trials will be rolled out from this weekend will be able to hire an e-scooter through the provider’s app The app will provide visitors with a map that shows where the scooters are located to pick up and ride The trial parameters have been carefully considered taking lessons from e-scooter use around the world and across the country to ensure the safest most practical and effective measures are in place Minister for active transport Rob Stokes said the government was committed to cautiously trialling the use of e-scooters in safe environments.  e-scooters present us with enormous opportunities and several challenges to address before we can permanently permit them on our streets,” Mr Stokes said “This is why the NSW Government is committed to trialling them and why our parklands are the perfect locations to start ahead of trials across multiple council areas “Councils can now formally apply to hold a 12-month trial with selected e-scooter shared scheme providers in their area The trial is restricted to shared scheme e-scooters so we can guarantee the safety parameters of each device.” Council areas can now apply to be part of the trial and once approved can begin 12-month trials with e-scooter shared scheme providers in their area The trial will limit shared scheme e-scooters to riders 16 years old and over limited to a maximum of 20km/h on bicycle paths and a speed limit of 10km/h for shared paths E-scooters will not be permitted on footpaths and the use of privately owned e-scooters will remain prohibited “We’ve taken our time to get this trial right which is why we’re not rushing into rolling this trial out to interested council areas immediately,” Mr Stokes said “Each shortlisted council will have to meet the requirements of the trial and undergo a safety assessment before being approved.” Where are the provider details so we can book or scan the QR code on site at the Botanic Garden For information directly relating to bushfires please call the Bush Fire Information Line on 1800 679 737 or visit the NSW Rural Fire Service Website here. [external link] We responded to over 150,000 incidents in 2023-24 The incidents displayed below are note-worthy incidents that have been published as media releases or tweets Details about incidents may change and should not be used as emergency information and/or advice North Parramatta | The fire at Dunlop Street, North Parramatta has been contained but is expected to smoulder through the morning. Because there may be smoke in the area, residents and businesses in the vicinity are advised to keep doors, windows, and vents closed. View on X [external link] Fire and Rescue NSW acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as the Traditional Custodians of the land and acknowledges and pays respect to their Elders go: the popular Campbelltown City Challenge Walk is back on the radar for another year It will be held in the scenic landscape of the Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan on Sunday Registrations are now open to enter the 6km or 11km course with gates open at 6.30am and the first course commencing at 8am The popular Colour Burst section will return which means that participants who take this path will be showered in coloured powder as they pass through “The Campbelltown City Challenge Walk is a chance to get outdoors and enjoy a great day togetherin one of the region’s most scenic spaces,” says Mayor George Greiss “The Colour Burst section provided some great fun last year for families and entrants looking for more fun than competition,” he said “There’ll be plenty of attractions and stalls on the day so I encourage everyone to get in early and register,” he said Participants and their family and friends will be able to explore a variety of on-site health and wellness stalls food and drink vendors and live music throughout the event All competitors will receive a participation medal upon completion of their course A short stage presentation will be held at the conclusion of the 11km course to award the winners of each course In-person registrations at Campbelltown Civic Centre close Friday The deadline for online registrations is Wednesday For further details visit council’s website here. Costa visited the Australian Botanic Garden at Mount Annan in Sydney's south-western outskirts to meet D'harawal Elder, Aunty Fran. Francis Bodkin is an environmental scientist, botanist, climatologist and author. She's also an Education Officer at the Mt Annan branch of the Gardens. She spent the day showing Costa how to learn from the plants and animals in the bush. When she was young, Fran's female relatives told her D'harawal stories. She honours their memories by passing them on. Insects - and especially ants - are also part of the stories. Aunty Fran said her favourite creatures are the meat ants. "See those white stones on the nest?" she asked Costa. "Meat ants start gathering them and put them on their nest in preparation for bushfires. That's a signal that there's the possibility of bushfire. They start doing this about four moons before the bushfires are due to occur. This number of stones - just a few - means it's time to prepare for fire and keep an eye on the nest, but if you get a lot more white stones, then it's time to get out." The hairy petals of the Flannel Flower or Actinotus helianthi play a part in one of Fran's traditional stories as well as ancient history. "It's the story of a time when children learned to walk without having seen the sun," she explained. "They became sickly. The sun was blotted out for a very long time and the plants hadn't flowered - I'd always assumed it was a story of climate change or a mini Ice Age or something like that." "A young girl decided to try and fix it, so she lit a fire and the ice started to melt and the melted water went into the soil. Pretty soon a little plant grew and the plant was covered in fur to keep it warm - then the flower came open and she knew that the land was healing. She learned from the land and that is the whole thing." "You learn from the land and you return to the land that knowledge. I was telling this story one day to a group of scientists. A couple of them came up and said, 'Hey, we know something about this!' What had happened was a volcano had exploded in New Zealand 74,000 years ago and had actually blotted out the sun of the southern hemisphere for quite a long time and this was the story that covered that volcanic explosion." Costa says "The wonderful thing is that these interactions are marrying two sciences together - the aboriginal science of observation and experience over thousands upon thousands of years; and the modern science of experiments and measurement." "The Bush is evocative for all of us, but it's also full of information that can help us learn about the land and the way nature works," he finishes. Costa catches up with a respected elder at the Australian Botanic Garden and credible horticultural and gardening advice inspiring and entertaining all Australian gardeners around the nation This beautiful – and functional – new lake is the centrepiece of a draft master plan to take the Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan to the next level It is envisaged that the new lake will become a central hub for a range of activities creating a calm and tranquil area for people to get together The lake will be encircled by a 1.5km loop walk in the shape of an Aboriginal coolamon (carrying vessel) and two arcs representing people seated and yarning alongside the coolamon But there is much more to the master plan than just new facilities and attractions The vision of the master plan is to build on the botanic garden’s legacy as an integral place for horticulture celebration and science by improving botanical and nature experiences supporting the community and becoming a global leader among sustainable botanical gardens The draft master plan incorporates feedback received during consultation on “six key moves’’ between August 29 and September 26 as part of the first round of community consultation This also included cultural and heritage feedback and advice from Dharawal traditional owners The result has been a draft master plan that prioritises biodiversity and conservation by restoring the Mount Annan site’s natural grassland and Cumberland Plain Woodland The preservation and restoration of vegetation will also encourage and protect key wildlife corridors along with the removal of invasive species The master plan proposes carefully integrated vehicle and pedestrian networks that will provide a safe and comfortable journey through the site and connect to existing facilities such as the National Herbarium of NSW (pictured below) and the Australian PlantBank The current car parking and vehicle entries will remain with new pedestrian entries into the site being established existing mountain bike trails will be retained and enhanced The Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust is developing the master plan to guide how the Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan will evolve into the future.  “The draft master plan seeks to build on the legacy of the Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan positioning the site as a leader among sustainable botanic gardens globally,’’ says the report on the master plan the draft master plan showcases Australian flora and First Nations perspectives through protecting If anyone would like to comment on the master plan they must do so by February 8, 2023 at abgma@wsp.com A new world-leading living sciences hub focused on conservation and sustainability is part of the vision for the future of the Australian Botanic Garden at Mount Annan The concept masterplan also proposes almost 10 kilometres of new walking and cycling paths as well as new community eco-tourism facilities and nature experiences Member for Camden Peter Sidgreaves said the Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan has an exciting future for locals and visitors alike and the community’s input was critical to help shape its future “People are looking more and more for experiences that connect them to nature and we have an incredible opportunity to showcase Australia’s unique flora and fauna right here in Mount Annan,” Mr Sidgreaves said the concept masterplan offers something for everyone from botanical domes and horticultural displays to new adventure and play spaces and Indigenous gardens and knowledge hubs.” a new 7-hectare lake that nods to the significance of water in Dharug Dharawal and Gundungurra culture as a place of gathering “The area surrounding Mount Annan was and still is a significant meeting place for Aboriginal peoples so cultural heritage and Aboriginal history must be integral in the Garden’s future masterplan,” Mr Sidgreaves said the Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan is a flagship site of the Australian Institute of Botanical Science the National Herbarium and the Australian Plantbank Its horticultural collection showcases the enormous diversity of Australian flora through horticultural displays Cumberland Plain Woodland and remnant native grasslands The Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust will begin consultation on the concept masterplan this week. To find out more and to complete an opinion survey, visit australianbotanicgarden.com.au Catch a stunning display of paper daisies at the Australian Botanic Garden yellow and white paper daisies and it’s a lovely sight Find the sea of pretty blossoms just under an hour from Sydney CBD until the end of October; even better Spring has sprung and it’s the perfect time to enjoy spring flowers in and around town Spread across more than 2,000 square metres of picturesque garden beds this vibrant display is only around for a short time so don’t miss out Police divers have located the body of a 19-year-old man missing for four days from a dam inside Mount Annan Botanical Gardens in Sydney’s southwest Police divers have pulled the body of a teen missing for four days from a dam at Mount Annan Botanical Gardens in Sydney’s southwest was last seen on Alchornea Crescent in Mount Annan on Sunday at about 6am CCTV footage captured the 19-year-old walking into the gardens just before 7am Police said Mr Singh's family held grave concerns for his welfare because he lives with bipolar disorder.  "Officers attached to Camden Police Area Command were notified by his family when he could not be located and an investigation into his whereabouts commenced," a NSW police spokesperson said multi-agency search of the Mount Annan area was undertaken as part of the investigation." NSW police say initial inquiries suggest the man’s death is not suspicious A report will now be prepared for the Coroner If you need help call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or online at lifeline.org.au which is the first home in the suburb to sell for more than $1 million A HOUSE in Mount Annan sold for $1.07 million crushing the sale price record for homes in the suburb by $115,000 The house at 120 Mount Annan Drive is also the first residential property in the suburb to sell for a price above $1 million The property sold prior to its scheduled auction hot on the heels of the first open home day which attracted 53 interested buyers and four contract requests which includes a new two-bedroom granny flat at the rear The buyers are a local couple who were drawn to the granny flat which they intend to let their parents use The vendors were also a family from the area They have plans to build a new home in the same area Selling agents Anna Younan and Luke Mannion said they had been “very excited” from the beginning to handle the sale of this home “It is located adjacent to the entry to The Australian Botanic Gardens and it is now the deserving holder of the suburb record sale price,” Ms Younan said In nearby Raby, the suburb record was broken with a $1.36 million transaction just days before the Mount Annan record sale John McGrath discusses real estate 20 years from now A look into the future of property third parties have written and supplied the content and we are not responsible for it completeness or reliability of the information nor do we accept any liability or responsibility arising in any way from omissions or errors contained in the content We do not recommend sponsored lenders or loan products and we cannot introduce you to sponsored lenders We strongly recommend that you obtain independent advice before you act on the content realestate.com.au is owned and operated by ASX-listed REA Group Ltd (REA:ASX) © REA Group Ltd. By accessing or using our platform, you agree to our Terms of Use. Pictures: ROBERT PEETBathed in a violet glow John Siemon strides into the cool room of the concrete bunker pulling on gloves and a thick jacket – an occupational necessity at the PlantBank Picture: ROBERT PEETKangaroo grass frames the new PlantBank building at the Australian Botanic Gardens at Mount Annan Picture: ROBERT PEETThe new PlantBank building at the Australian Botanic Gardens at Mount Annan Picture: ROBERT PEETBehind the glass windows are three vaults storing 100 million seeds in temperatures ranging between four to minus 20 degrees Picture: ROBERT PEETOne of the oldest flowering plants the amborella is a primitive shrub from New Caledonia Pictures: ROBERT PEETSeeds come in all shapes Each one needs its own special event in order to germinate Picture: ROBERT PEETVisitors and school students can view scientists at work in their glass walled laboratories Picture: ROBERT PEETThis rainforest species was collected at the end of last year from a volcanic peak in the Tweed Valley with an x-ray of acacia fimbriata seeds showing how many are fertile and how many were corrupted Picture: ROBERT PEETSeeds come in all shapes Each one needs its own special event in order to germinate such as a bushfire or cold temperatures Picture: ROBERT PEETGraeme Errington in the new PlantBank building at the Australian Botanic Gardens at Mount Annan Pictures: ROBERT PEETThe largest seed in the world the coco de mer or sea coconut greets visitors in the foyer above tiny jars house seeds dating back 150 years old Pictures: ROBERT PEETThe new PlantBank building at the Australian Botanic Gardens at Mount Annan Picture: ROBERT PEETBathed in a violet glow pulling on gloves and a thick jacket - an occupational necessity at the PlantBank All articles from our website & appThe digital version of Today's PaperBreaking news alerts direct to your inboxInteractive Crosswords Sudoku and TriviaAll articles from the other regional websites in your areaContinueBehind the glass windows are three vaults storing 100 million seeds in temperatures ranging between four to minus 20 degrees takes out one of the trays of small foil packets Each one is carefully numbered and linked to other DNA related samples in the collection Inside the bunker a fifth of Australia's 25,000 plant species are represented including 260 of NSW's rare and endangered species allowing future scientists to bring back to life native plants for regrowth or medical research 'We've shifted our science from behind our barbed wire fence to a place where the public can come in and see our science and conservation activities.' Australia has 14 per cent of the world's threatened plant species with 611 species on the endangered list in NSW alone "We can store our seeds for several hundred years and for our longer lived seeds our scientists suggest maybe even several thousand years," says Siemon "This buys us more time for scientists to analyse a plants chemical make-up." Some of the seeds will certainly outlive the new architecturally designed PlantBank building The PlantBank is Australia's first line of defence in plant conservation and the new building at the Australian Botanic Garden at Mount Annan is designed to safeguard the future of our native flora Built at a cost of $19.8 million it can withstand four hours of bushfire using concrete and stainless steel to reflect the heat and minimise risk to the seed collection protective screens will also slide down over the glass preventing embers from entering the building The vault is protected by a concrete shell inside the building in temperatures as low as minus 196 degrees About half of all rainforest species in Australia fit into that category with plant cells and tissue stored in liquid nitrogen in the PlantBank's new $600,000 vat-like storage facility The surrounding landscape is designed to blend into the building's interior and exterior using the biodiversity of the endangered Cumberland Plain Woodland located just north of the building Visitors can view scientists at work as they sift "We've shifted our science from behind our barbed wire fence to a place where the public can come in and see our science and conservation activities," says Siemon Austinmer's Graeme Errington has just returned from south-east Asia where he was part of a PlantBank team assisting Vietnamese horticulturalists on how to manage and construct their own botanic gardens and protect their native flora It is an outreach program aimed at greater conservation of plant species Errington sits in a sandstone garden bed under the new building a link to the past when Australia's first botanists began to collect and sow seeds in the Royal Botanic Garden in Sydney almost 200 years ago "We're trying to grow lichen on the sandstone but it's not working out too well," says Errington "Lichen grows easily on any wall you don't want it to grow on It's encouraging to hear that even the experts can have their bad days in the garden Some of the seeds collected by early botanists dating back 150 years are on display in the foyer of the PlantBank a tiny speck of dust belonging to an orchid Errington is a seedbank officer on the PlantBank's Rainforest Project "The idea of seed storage is to dry the seed down to a very low moisture content and then freeze them," explains Errington "But only 50 per cent of rainforest plants can be treated that way test it and determine how it will be treated." Rainforest seeds and their embryo is a new area of research "It's ripe for the picking," says Errington When you're presented with a challenge there's no one else to ask We need techniques for taking the seeds or part of the seed and turning it back into whole plants We can actually dissect out the embryo which contains all of the genetic information of the plant discard the rest of the seed and using a sterile environment we can regrow any part of the plant." Plants are under threat from human development "The moment we have lost a plant we can never get it back," warns Siemon "We need to think of the Australian PlantBank as being an insurance policy until we're ready to to learn about the plant material At least then we have the option to go back in time." A duplicate set of the seeds is also sent to the United Kingdom to be stored in an underground vault in the Millennium Plant Bank "If our collection is destroyed then there's a back up," says Siemon "It's going to take us a long time to work out each plant's potential Our goal is to keep snapshots of a plant's genetic material In the future scientists may find many pharmaceutical and medical products When a plant becomes extinct we might be missing a cure to cancer or fail to find products that regulate certain bodily functions." Siemon says many medical advancements have come from the study of the compounds within plants "There are a lot of products that people take on a day-to-day basis that are actually originally derived from plants," he says "The contraceptive pill is made from a product within yams and the digitalis foxglove plant has chemicals that can be used to regulate the heart beat." The PlantBank is also working with other agencies to combat the spread of the disease myrtle rust which snuck into the country from Brazil In a short time it has spread across the eastern seaboard of Australia from Cairns to Melbourne The disease is so widespread that it's now impossible for authorities to eradicate Myrtle rust attacks the myrtaceae family which represents nearly 16 per cent of Australia's flora including many of Australia's iconic plants such as eucalypt "Its a sizeable disease that has the potential to destroy a lot of plants," explains Siemon "Disease symptoms can be total defoliation of a tree and death to all seedlings "It's quite extreme and we are yet to know its full potential damage to our native flora but we are pretty sure that several species will be made extinct Free weekend tours are available of the PlantBank between 11am and 1pm Visitors are advised to contact 46 347935 to confirm tour times Today's top stories curated by our news team Grab a quick bite of today's latest news from around the region and the nation Catch up on the news of the day and unwind with great reading for your evening Get the editor's insights: what's happening & why it matters Get the latest property and development news here Find out what's happening in local business tips & travel writing to transport you around the globe Your weekday morning newsletter on national affairs Your essential national news digest: all the big issues on Wednesday and great reading every Saturday Let the ACM network's editors and journalists bring you news and views from all over reviews and expert insights every Thursday from CarExpert Your digital replica of Today's Paper Test your skills with interactive crosswords A crack herd of goats has been released at the Australian Botanic Garden at Mount Annan in an attempt to control an infestation of African olive The mob of 18 wethers and four females is under strict control in a four-week trial at the Mount Annan gardens The goats are owned by a south coast company, Herds for Hire Mr Shields told the Herald they use "secret goat-training methods" to make sure the herd works together Elisabeth Larsen from Herds for Hire with a mob of South African boer goats at the Mount Annan botanic gardens.Credit: Wolter Peeters "We weed out the smarter goats that could get under the electric fence We also remove the jumpers and anti-social goats African olive invades native bushland, "creating a dense shady canopy that excludes the growth of native understorey plants," says the NSW Department of Primary Industries The weed has been in Australia since the 1850s when it is thought to have been introduced by sheep baron John Macarthur for hedging and as root stock for European olives said Peter Cuneo from the Mount Annan gardens The introduced olive is now running rampant south-west of Sydney in the Picton-Camden area who is manager of Mount Annan's seed bank and restoration research said there are now more than 2000 hectares of dense African olive in south-west Sydney Jordan Scott (left) from the Mount Annan gardens and Elisabeth Larsen from Herds for Hire with a mob of South African boer goats eating African olives.Credit: Wolter Peeters "Critically endangered Cumberland plain woodland is particularly at risk from olive invasion," Dr Cuneo said The four-week trial has been approved by the NSW Minister for the Environment, Mark Speakman Spread of African olive from Landsat imagery in 2000 Dr Peter Cuneo says the weed has 'spread considerably' since he published this map in 2006.Credit: Cuneo & Leishman "This shows we're not kidding around on weed control," Mr Speakman said "The spread of the African olive in the gardens is a serious issue and I'm very happy to look at innovative approaches to improving our natural environment." supervisor of natural areas and open spaces at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Mount Annan.Credit: Wolter Peeters Jordan Scott is the supervisor of natural areas and open spaces at the Mount Annan gardens He said the impact of the African olive shouldn't be underestimated "It's not just the loss of plant diversity and productivity on farm land The removal costs are also prohibitive," he said Mr Scott said that 80 hectares of the 416-hectare garden had been overrun by the olive "We have reduced this to 40 hectares through mechanical and physical methods," he said Mr Scott said the goats, which are South African boer goats, will lighten the load of the work containing the olive. "And it's so nice just hanging out with them," he said. The Mount Annan garden uses its seed bank to restabilise the cleared land with native grasses. Dr Cuneo said it takes three years to establish vigorous native grass cover. "The goats are eating all the leaves and fruit and some of the branches. After they've gone we can go through and treat the olive stumps with herbicide," Mr Scott said. The goats are contained in 2000-square-metre pens with an electric fence. "Before we put them out to work, we train them to keep them away from the fence, which has about a quarter a lethal dose of electricity," Mr Shields said. Ms Larsen, who has been monitoring the herd at Mount Annan all week, said: "They are going great with the olives. They love it. They chew all the nuts - eating them like lollies." She said using goats had numerous advantages: they reduce the need for chemicals and can access areas out of reach of mechanical or manual clearing. Ms Larsen said after her goats have cleared an area it is "like a cold fire has gone through". Before coming to Australia to study in the 1990s, Ms Larsen was a heritage milkmaid in the Norwegian mountains, where she learnt special calls for her cows. She has adapted that to call in her goats. Mr Shields said it's not a great idea to try this at home. "It might look easy to run the goats, but we spend time training each one." He said it costs about $300 a day for the goats to munch away, clearing weeds or reducing fire hazards. But you have to pay the cost of getting them there, too. A crack herd of goats has been released at the Australian Botanic Garden at Mount Annan in an attempt to control an infestation of African olive, an aggressive woody weed. The mob of 18 wethers and four females is under strict control in a four-week trial at the Mount Annan gardens. The goats are owned by a south coast company, , run by Jim Shields and Elisabeth Larsen. Mr Shields told the Herald they use \\\"secret goat-training methods\\\" to make sure the herd works together. \\\"We weed out the smarter goats that could get under the electric fence. We also remove the jumpers and anti-social goats. Most goats are very trainable, but a few aren't,\\\" he said. African olive invades native bushland, \\\"creating a dense shady canopy that excludes the growth of native understorey plants,\\\" . The weed has been in Australia since the 1850s, when it is thought to have been introduced by sheep baron John Macarthur for hedging and as root stock for European olives, said Peter Cuneo from the Mount Annan gardens. The introduced olive is now running rampant south-west of Sydney in the Picton-Camden area. Dr Cuneo, who is manager of Mount Annan's seed bank and restoration research, said there are now more than 2000 hectares of dense African olive in south-west Sydney. \\\"Critically endangered Cumberland plain woodland is particularly at risk from olive invasion,\\\" Dr Cuneo said. The four-week trial has been approved by the NSW Minister for the Environment, . \\\"This shows we're not kidding around on weed control,\\\" Mr Speakman said. \\\"The spread of the African olive in the gardens is a serious issue and I'm very happy to look at innovative approaches to improving our natural environment.\\\" Jordan Scott is the supervisor of natural areas and open spaces at the Mount Annan gardens. He said the impact of the African olive shouldn't be underestimated. \\\"It's not just the loss of plant diversity and productivity on farm land. The removal costs are also prohibitive,\\\" he said. Mr Scott said that 80 hectares of the 416-hectare garden had been overrun by the olive. \\\"We have reduced this to 40 hectares through mechanical and physical methods,\\\" he said. Mr Scott said the goats, which are , will lighten the load of the work containing the olive. \\\"And it's so nice just hanging out with them,\\\" he said. \\\"The goats are eating all the leaves and fruit and some of the branches. After they've gone we can go through and treat the olive stumps with herbicide,\\\" Mr Scott said. \\\"Before we put them out to work, we train them to keep them away from the fence, which has about a quarter a lethal dose of electricity,\\\" Mr Shields said. Ms Larsen, who has been monitoring the herd at Mount Annan all week, said: \\\"They are going great with the olives. They love it. They chew all the nuts - eating them like lollies.\\\" Ms Larsen said after her goats have cleared an area it is \\\"like a cold fire has gone through\\\". Mr Shields said it's not a great idea to try this at home. \\\"It might look easy to run the goats, but we spend time training each one.\\\" Link copiedShareShare articleAs Alan Leishman treks through the bush of the Australian Botanic Garden at Mount Annan He is returning the call of a grey shrike-thrush one of the many bird species he has tracked for the past 31 years "It's very appropriately named harmonica — it's scientific name," he explained Mr Leishman is a self-described "non-professional bird bander" An adult male superb fairy-wren gets disentangled from the misting net He has spent much of his life banding and collecting information about birds — starting at the age of 25 — and training young ecologists in the technique "It's one of those things children don't get enough of but when you walk around confidently and keep your eyes open "I've had a few raptors put their claws through my fingers and things like that .. it's all part of the operation." Banding is a universal technique to monitor threatened and migratory birds they are fitted with a uniquely numbered metal band or tag around their lower leg In Australia, the bands are provided by the Federal Government and the information is collated by the Australian Bird and Bat Banding Scheme (ABBBS), of which Mr Leishman helps coordinate. The ABBBS has compiled more than two million records since it started in 1953. For the past three decades, Mr Leishman has been banding at Mount Annan every second Tuesday of the month. The birds get tangled in the soft nets which are camouflaged in the bushland. (ABC Radio Sydney: Amanda Hoh) It starts at dawn with the setup of several misting nets; the sites chosen by "gosh and by god" according to Mr Leishman, but which practically allow the nets to be camouflaged among the trees and long grasses. Every 40 minutes, he returns to the nets to disentangle the birds that have flown into them. On one of the rounds, Mr Leishman had to call in some tools to help extract a golden whistler after it had gotten the net twisted around its beak. After about 20 minutes, the bird came free and was put inside a white cotton bag for the walk back to the makeshift workstation beside the road. A pick had to be used to detangle this golden whistler who had the net caught around its beak. (ABC Radio Sydney: Amanda Hoh) When asked about how distressed the birds got, Mr Leishman said: "It obviously has some stress, no doubt. "Who wants to be caught in a big net and have what's like a big gold ring put around their finger?" He later added that he had not noticed any long-term effects in the birds after catching the same ones on subsequent occasions. Most of the birds caught already have bands on their legs and have hand-written record cards which Mr Leishman stores in old metal drawers in the back of his van. "Well there were no computers when I started," he laughed. "It is much easier with cards ... I'll enter the information into the computer later when I get home." A white-browed scrubwren has its beak-to-head measurements taken. (ABC Radio Sydney: Amanda Hoh) Joining Mr Leishman this week were PhD students Vicky Austen and Corey Callaghan, who along with wildlife ecologist John Martin caught and recorded 22 birds. For each one they identified the species, recorded any visible features, then measured the bird's weight, wing span, tail and head-to-beak length before letting it go. Among the captures were a few superb fairy-wrens, white-browed scrub wrens, a grey fantail, an eastern yellow robin, a bell miner and a red-browed firetail. This azure kingfisher is only the second caught in Alan Leishman's 30 years at Mount Annan. (Supplied: John Martin) The smallest of them, a brown thornbill, weighed just six grams. The team was most excited though with an unbanded 38-gram azure kingfisher. It was only the second kingfisher Mr Leishman had seen in his 30-odd years of work. "There is a level of pleasure when you've found that birds are still there. So far, Mr Leishman has captured thousands of birds and recorded more than 180 species in the gardens. Mr Leishman has honed his talent for recognising bird calls and the ability to spot the tiniest of wings in the tree canopy. But he has also witnessed first hand significant changes to the diversity of birds as a result of residential and industrial development and the effects of climate change. Alan Leishman records all his banded birds on system cards. (ABC Radio Sydney: Amanda Hoh) In his 30 years at Mount Annan, Mr Leishman has seen rainfall decline, land clearing, habitat modification and the botanic gardens slowly "closed in" by the construction of the neighbouring M5 and surrounding housing estates. Dr Martin said researchers were working hard to stop the garden becoming "an island", which would severely reduce cross pollination and the migration of animals, including three species of kangaroo in the area that frequently move along the green corridor between between Mount Annan and the Nepean River. Mr Leishman's 30-year records, which he has started writing up into a scientific paper, are vital in the understanding and monitoring of bird populations in the area. One of the most notable changes has been silvereye birds which have significantly declined in numbers across the Cumberland Plains, partly due to the growth of African olive — an exotic noxious weed food source. Each bird has their wing length, tail length and weight measured by researchers. (ABC Radio Sydney: Amanda Hoh) Other species though have been driven out by newcomers like the bell miners which only started appearing in the Mount Annan gardens in 2011. "In my lifetime, they've been dispersing from the Nepean, to Revesby and Scheyville National Park," Mr Leishman said. "They're common right down the coast, but they're not a good thing. "Like the noisy miners they're an aggressive bird; they feed on insects and they drive the honeyeaters out." Some populations like superb fairy-wrens have remained steady given their ability to "fit in with human habitation", Mr Leishman said. PhD student Vicky Austen lets a brown thornbill go after taking its measurements. (ABC Radio Sydney: Amanda Hoh) While checking the nets, Mr Leishman fondly recalled one of the oldest birds he encountered — a yellow thornbill that weighed about seven grams and which he caught multiple times over 16 years. "Most yellow thornbills from hatching period, probably only live for three months," he said. "Most birds have a very short lifespan, but there are a number of individuals, once they know the area, they are able to live for a fairly long period of time." At 76, Mr Leishman said he had no plans to hang up his binoculars or his nets anytime soon, although he does hope to pass on his knowledge to someone willing to dedicate themselves to bird banding at Mount Annan for another few decades. "Thirty years seems a reasonable amount of time and I would hope that someone may come back and look at [the data] and do some comparisons," he said. "I don't think the prognosis is good, I think we'll have some big changes in the bird population. "We have some critically endangered birds in Australia, and at what point do we do something about it? "You leave it too long and you won't have enough birds to work with and enough diversity to work with." A red-browed finch is detangled from the misting nets (ABC Radio Sydney: Amanda Hoh) That comment proved unintentionally ironic at noon when the team packed up the nets and the tools and headed to lunch. As he reviewed the list of birds, Mr Leishman appeared slightly disappointed. "You get your good days and your bad days," he said. "One day, I had 800 birds fly into the nets." Federal Member for Hume Angus Taylor has welcomed news the Royal Botanic Gardens at Mount Annan will receive $250,000 to improve security onsite The gardens will be safer with security enhancements that include CCTV cameras “This security infrastructure will help ensure people in the community feel safe and also deter further criminal behaviour,” Mr Taylor said The Morrison Government has announced the security infrastructure project at the Gardens will share in $9.4 million of grant funding through the latest round of the Safer Communities Fund The Safer Communities funding enables schools community organisations and local councils to enhance their security through the installation of infrastructure such as fencing and gates “We are thrilled to receive this grant which will enable us to enhance our security at the Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan which is imperative in protecting our Gardens,” Chief Executive of the Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust Denise Ora said “The protection of our incredible Gardens and our living collections ensures this incredible place can be enjoyed by the community for generations to come.” A 15 year old boy will appear in court today over the stabbing of two teens during a brawl at a Mt Annan park last evening He was arrested shortly afterwards in the backyard of a home and taken to Narellan Police Station to be charged with wounding a person with intent to cause grievous bodily harm was refused bail to appear at a children’s court today Emergency services were called to Birriwa Reserve on Fitzpatrick Road following reports of a brawl just before 6pm yesterday Those involved dispersed on foot and in vehicles when officers from Camden Police Area Command arrived on the scene A 16-year-old boy had suffered two stab wounds during the brawl who police say was walking through the park Both teens were taken to Campbelltown Hospital where they remain in a stable condition any witnesses or anyone with information is urged to contact Camden Detectives or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 a 28-year-old Bargo man was arrested yesterday and charged with reckless wounding and common assault It is alleged he used a samurai sword to stab a 34-year-old man in the chest on Saturday Police will allege in court that the two men were involved in an altercation on Great Southern Road The Bargo man was granted strict conditional bail to appear at Picton Local Court on December 15 Celebrated by over 100 venues of its type across Australia every year Botanic Gardens Day aims to highlight the work such places do to understand and protect plants while inspiring the next generation of researchers the Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan - the largest of its type in Australia - in south-western Sydney will be hosting a free event on the day (Saturday The garden has more than 4000 native plant species in its Living Collection It's home to world-class scientific facilities such as the new National Herbarium of New South Wales and the award-winning Australian PlantBank Chief Executive of the Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust a budding scientist or just curious about plants the event has something for the whole family "From free science talks to hands-on activities this is your chance to go behind-the-scenes and learn about the important and interesting work that our scientists horticulturists and other passionate experts are doing to protect plants for future generations," said Ms Ora A variety of interactive and educational stalls will be set up along the forecourt of the newly opened Herbarium and visitors are invited to explore the exhibition space of the new facility where over one million plant specimens are stored and used for vital research and plenty of opportunities to relax and recharge with a variety of food trucks on offer and a listening station to sample some of the Garden's best Branch Out podcast episodes Click here for more information Sign up for our newsletter to stay up to date We care about the protection of your data. Read our Privacy Policy A taste of Greek summer has found a home in Mt Annan For the past month or so the lovely aromas of Roula Zafiropoulos’ home cooked Greek food has been enticing local residents to a new fast food outlet in the southern part of Mt Annan shopping centre (where Coles is located) Roula and her husband Sotiris opened Chicken Wizard Mount Annan and made sure they included some delicious Greek classics as part of their offerings stuffed cabbage rolls and tomatoes and tiropites (cheese pasties) among the Greek offerings at Chicken Wizard Mount Annan And so far the locals have given it a big thumbs up “The reaction from locals since we opened has been very “Everybody who has tried our food is happy Both Roula and Sotiris are passionate about preparing and serving great quality food – which is no surprise considering their Greek heritage although Sotiris admits “we buy the meat of course’’ “For the moment everything is very popular everything we have is going well so far,’’ says Sotiris The couple opened their first take away store in Rockdale 35 years ago Roula and Sotiris then opened Chicken Wizard in Panania before moving to Macarthur to live the parents followed and so there was an opportunity for them to start a new business here,’’ says son in law Paul Condoleon He says Roula and Sotiris have always been community minded and it will be no different in Mt Annan “We are already looking into how we can make a contribution to the local community through schools and sporting clubs,’’ he says Bringing a taste of delicious Greek food to Macarthur is a pretty good start Sign up to receive the Take5 Newsletter and offers we choose to share with you straight to your inbox  By joining, you agree to our Privacy Policy & Terms of Use I laughed into my coffee as my friend Nicole made a joke over brunch Before tucking into my delicious-looking scrambled eggs It was a friend request on Facebook from a guy called Metin so I quickly declined his request and returned to my food I had my hands full – romance was the last thing on my mind “Received any Facebook friend requests lately?” asked Nicole “How’d you know?!” I asked Me with Nicole (right) I’m so glad she set us up Turned out Metin was a single dad to three girls and a friend of hers “He’s a male version of you,” she said Nicole was my bestie and wouldn’t think of setting me up with some loser Part of me kept thinking about what a spunk Metin was “My girls are my world,” he said Leon and Kiara – my kids mean everything to me but kept it a secret from the kids until we were sure it was serious It only took three months for me to know Metin was the one so we brought all our children together to an indoor playground “This is Mummy’s friend,” I told my little ones but more excited about having new kids to play with they were all running around giggling together “When are we gonna see our new friends again?” Leon asked as we drove home I couldn’t ignore the spring in my step – I hadn’t felt this happy in years the kids went to stay with their dad as I was about to head off on a month-long holiday overseas with friends I hadn’t known Metin when I’d bought my ticket the real estate was booting us out because the owner wanted to sell The date on the notice sent a shiver down my spine It had been sent just after I’d flown out – I had only two weeks to find a new home “Let’s move in together.” “I’m not sure…” I said We’d only been dating for a few months – living under the one roof seemed a bit rushed He soon put my mind at ease and we found our dream home straightaway Life together was bliss – all our kids got along so well and went to the doc right away to get it checked a scan showed it was just a cyst.But it soon turned into an open wound on my nipple that kept getting painfully stuck to my bra she said it was a cyst that had become infected we’d had no luck so we had fertility testing Metin was crushed to learn that his hormone levels weren’t quite right – he’d need treatment until they balanced out “The baby can wait,” I told him An ultrasound showed the baby’s heartbeat wasn’t strong I had to take it easy and stopped preparing for my body-building immediately But as the pregnancy hormones raced through my body the cyst in my breast started growing again “I’ll write you a script for antibiotics,” the doc said We were so thrilled to learn that we were expecting a baby I started training for a body-building competition when “Congratulations,” the doc said They were the words Metin and I had both desperately wanted to hear “Then why am I spotting?” I asked The doc scheduled an emergency ultrasound for the next day “I’m pregnant!” I blurted “No way,” he said in complete disbelief Once he realised I wasn’t pulling his leg he broke down in tears: our dream was coming true I tried to wait it out but as the weeks crept on I’d mention it to my docs during each check-up but they were convinced it was just a cyst “I want to see a specialist,” I demanded but I’d heard “just a cyst” so many times I expected that’s what I’d be told again you have breast cancer,” he said softly It was stage three and I’d need a mastectomy immediately Tears pricked my eyes as Metin took over discussing my diagnosis and treatment options with the doc My mind could only think of one thing: I was 30 weeks’ pregnant I took a deep breath and sat down in front of our kids but this time life had thrown us something serious “Mummy has breast cancer,” I said “but I’m going to be fine.” “What about the baby?” Jacob asked “Bub will be here in no time,” he said My baby shower two weeks after the mastectomy Docs had wanted me to start chemo right away but I couldn’t risk anything happening to the baby we’d been trying to have for years I agreed to have a mastectomy at 33-and-a-half weeks docs would perform a caesarean at 36 weeks little one,” I whispered to my tummy as I was wheeled into the operating theatre everything felt right; I could forget about cancer and enjoy being a mum But with six kids and a newborn to look after We went to get the results of my mastectomy and follow-up tests It revealed that I had a nine-centimetre tumour in my breast and seven cancerous lymph nodes Isaac’s birth brought me so much joy “You could have anywhere between 12 months to six years left,” the doctor said gently It was hard to go on with a death sentence looming over me but someone had to care for the kids while Metin went to work – without his income what are some things you’d love to do?” he asked “You mean for dinner?” I asked in a daze “Have a think – we can make a list.” I decided on things like going on a family holiday slow-dancing at sunset after a romantic dinner going horse riding and visiting the Royal Easter Show with the kids “Are you sure?” Metin asked after reading my list “Everything involves me and the kids “You guys are my life,” I replied “I just want us to have happy memories.” and I always hired a make-up artist named Kristy to doll us up before we headed out to party I wasn’t feeling well enough to hit the town this year We were thrilled to visit the Royal Easter Show thanks to Chanel Nine’s Today Show Kristy came over to do my make-up and was brought to tears as I told her my story saying: “You can take off the blindfold now.” I heard applause and realised we were surrounded by our family and friends Kristy heard about my engagement and messaged me I’d love to do your wedding make-up free of charge I’ve made a Facebook post encouraging people in the industry to lend a hand for your big day I only saw Kristy once a year and was touched by her generosity I had over 400 comments from people who wanted to help us out arriving in style with a motorcade of fancy cars I held back tears of joy as I looked at Metin and our kids candles and white floor tiles with our names written in delicate gold calligraphy you are my soulmate and the love of my life,” he choked I felt like the luckiest woman in the world We’re slowly working our way through my bucket list We’ve been lucky enough to do most things My main hope is that Metin and I can prepare our kids for life and create as many happy memories as possible I’m sharing my story to urge women to trust their gut when something feels wrong but the love Metin and I share will last forever If you’d like to follow Alisha’s journey, you can find her on alishas_breastcancer_journey The 1865 Oakbank homestead, Mount Annan on 15 hectares with views of the Onkaparinga River in rural South Australia It was marketed as one of South Australia's earliest homesteads Mount Annan, 30 minutes from Adelaide sold for $2.2 million last month having been listed late last year with $2.65 million hopes It sold through Chris and Georgia Weston at Raine & Horne The original homestead on Onkaparinga Valley Road has been totally rebuilt Some of the original roof shingles have been preserved under the new iron as have the original multi-pane double swing doors except where two stone rooms feature the original hardwood flooring The spacious lounge entry features ornate fire surround Victorian cast iron fire grate and vaulted matchboard ceilings The origins of the faming block date back to the Cock family who arrived in 1838 from Leith brought sections 4017 and 4021 of the Mount Barker Special Survey (Onkaparinga) from the South Australian Company Robert Cock employed his cousins the Lamb family who built the farmhouse The very first stone rooms were built in the early 1840s and later additions were made in the 1860s and the 1880s Thomas Edwards, who came out from Shropshire in 1850 on the ship Lord Ashbourne, bought the then 200 acre Mount Annan property in 1852 from Robert Cock The Edwards family owned the property for five generations listing the unrenovated property in 2010, selling it in 2011 at $930,000. 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