A Green Adelaide Grassroots grant in 2024 has made possible very interesting transformations for the disused netball court at McConnell reserve west.

The grant funded the installation of sixteen wicking beds placed on the old court to showcase local bush tucker plants supplied by Warraparinga Cultural Centre and native coastal shrubs. Surrounding the court, the Hilltop Hub volunteers along with Marion Council staff have also planted a diverse range of native coastal shrubs

The grant included a 6 metre long concrete path to enable easier wheelchair and walking frame access.

A significant outcome in 2025 was the signing of the DOA with Marion Council to create the McConnell Community Native Garden.

The grant has been the catalyst for many other benefits: increased community recognition with the popular Neighbour Day picnic each March, involvement with other gardening groups, educational workshops and an arts grant.

The grant and the volunteers’ hard work have succeeded in increasing the biodiversity of flora and fauna of McConnell reserve into a cooler, greener space for the enjoyment of the community.

On Sunday April 12th a bunch of garden enthusiasts braved a cold windy morning at the garden to be inspired by a seed propagation workshop.

It was ably led by Natt Giffney from Green Adelaide and Glenn Christie from Succession Ecology. They demonstrated a variety of different native seeds and various ways to collect them. They then planted 6 rows of different seeds and also showed us how to water them.

We were told both the botanical name in latin and the common name in English .
The seeds included mealy saltbush, boobiala, black-headed grass, old man saltbush, native juniper and coastal seaberry. Some have already sprouted and will be planted out into small pots and eventually into the garden.

If you would like to come to further workshops at the garden please email hilltophubatmcconnell@gmail.com

Sunshine, laughter, guitar music, sizzling sausages, scarecrows, roses, conversations and native plants all came together to make a wonderful Neighbour Day at McConnell Community Native Garden on Sunday 29th March.

Young children were entranced by the Kpop queen, Rumi and families made amazing scarecrows from straw and recycled clothing. Others focussed on chalk drawn mandalas on the ashphalt surround the wicking beds.

Neighbours new and old enjoyed each other’s company and enthusiastically bought raffle tickets to win local restaurant vouchers, plants, flowers, garden essentials, or home made preserves. Everyone relished the delicious BBQ sausages and veggie kebabs cooked to perfection by the 5049 volunteers from the Neighbour Trailer.

Local, state and federal politicians visited to enjoy the festivities as well as to admire the native garden progress and meet over 150 locals.
Congratulations to everyone involved and thanks to the City of Marion events grant, which made for a very successful and well attended event.

The Hilltop Hub Community and McConnell Reserve Native Community Garden groups have advocated hard to keep McConnell Reserve West in Marino in public hands.  The local community formed the native garden on the western side last year and have put in many hours of work.

Our local community rallied at short notice over the March long weekend and were successful in saving the reserve again, after Counsellor Crossland made another attempt to cash in community land.

Thank you to the many councillors who did not support this motion and the community who rallied for a cause.  It’s so important to keep community land in community hands

Congratulations to our beautiful Marino community for sticking up for public land

We look forward to celebrating with you at our Neighbour Day picnic on March 29th.  All welcome.

Thanks to a Green Adelaide grant, to cool and green the western side of McConnell Reserve, 50 bush tucker plants have been installed into the wicking beds.

Plants were provided by Mark Calyx from the Kaurna Cultural Centre and are endemic to the region eg muntries for fruit and coastal rosemary for seasoning.

Families including children were enthusiastic helpers on the planting day.

The Hilltop Hub group are a friendly bunch of residents, always welcoming any assistance in maintaining this unique project. Regular working bees are held every second Sunday of each month 9-11.30 am.

Thanks to the City of Marion community garden team for their support.

Marino resident Barry had a birthday wish that was dear to his heart – to preserve the open space on the western side of the McConnell Reserve near his home. And his wish was granted just in time for his 90th birthday.

The City of Marion voted to keep the flat open space on the western side of the reserve as a nature reserve for the residents to revegetate. This decision came after active campaigning by Barry and the Hilltop Hub, who were concerned that the space would be sold for housing development.

Barry has been a resident of McConnell Ave in Marino for many years and has always loved the natural beauty of the area, with distant sea and city views and a nearby reserve and sports grounds. He was thrilled with the news that the western side of the reserve would be preserved as a natural habitat for local wildlife and as a peaceful recreational space for residents to enjoy.

The decision by the City of Marion Council is a victory for the environment and the community. Preserving open spaces for nature reserves and public use is essential for maintaining the health and well-being of residents. Congratulations to Barry and the Hilltop Hub at McConnell for their efforts in helping this to happen!

 

 

 

A most successful community forum was held last Sunday with over 40 people attending, (including Council candidates) where the Hilltop Hub@McConnell group asked the neighbourhood for input about the Council’s impending decision to review selling the western side of McConnell Reserve yet again.

The presentation included the history of 21 years of requests to  Marion Council to maintain, upgrade and not sell the park.

Neighbourhood Watch outlined the benefits to community health of accessible well-maintained open space  and its impact on reducing crime.

Local residents recounted the last 5 years of lobbying Marion Council and highlighted the importance of the Reserve’s remnant native vegetation, reminding those attending of Marion Council’s open space policies.

We are 6-7 month away from the Council making a decision on the future of the Western portion on McConnell Reserve. This will be the 4th time this proposal has been brought to Council. As far as locals and the community at large are concerned, is it a case of deja vu or worse still groundhog day!!

What new evidence will come to light via Council’s “ rigorous and comprehensive review”. To date we have not seen any framework for this review which will take into account not just the local activation of the eastern portion but the potential integration of the western portion, taking into  account the Marino Coastal Ward’ s needs and future demands in this growth area. All this will feed into a report which will be made for the new elected Council to review in February 2023.

All of the previous evidence and argument are still valid. Extract from the February 2022 submission follows:
The council is well aware we continue to advocate and campaign for the retention and integration of both sides of McConnell Reserve as a unique, level accessible public open space. This approach and recognition of its intrinsic value is based on

• An overall lack of accessible and useable level open space in Marino
• Recognition of the potential for McConnell to be a destination reserve
• Its potential contribution to the future open space/green space requirements brought on by the increased residential density in Marino facilitated by Council’s planned application for a Planning Code Amendment.
• The impacts of the new Seacliff Park development ( 600 homes) and pressures on existing open space requirements, notwithstanding the need for that development to provide its own minimum open space. That will not meet the current shortfall and as we know there are no boundaries to the  community accessing open space in other parts of the suburb if it has specific qualities e.g. McConnell.

The options provided as part of the Feb 2022 motion were reviewed by the Association and the Friends of McConnell. Based on the review we maintained and will maintain a consistent position:

Option 1 – Sell off the western part – vehemently opposed to this option ( all reasons referenced in the attachments to Council’s report future of McConnell Reserve )

Option 2 – Retain the western part -Wholehearted support this option ( all reasons referenced in the attachments to Council’s report and above). We would add that opportunity exists to seek support from State and Federal Governments to support the integration and enhancement of McConnell for the wider community, given its potential and its capacity to support mental wellbeing, environmental education, passive and active activities.

Option 3 – Defer the decision whilst a longer evaluation is conducted – Whilst option 2 was always  our preferred outcome we did support Option 3 on the basis that:

• • No evaluation criteria have been made available to the community.
  • The original motion from Jan 2021 stated :

“Retains the western portion of McConnell Avenue Reserve whilst undertaking a revised evaluation of the facilities and upgrades at the reserve as a whole, commencing in the months following the completion of the budgeted upgrade works on the eastern portion of the reserve, which are scheduled to be completed before Christmas 2021.”

A happy and successful day was enjoyed by families and friends at Marino, in celebration of Neighbour Day 2022. The great weather brought people out of their house to meet in a local shared community space at McConnell Reserve. Over 80 people attended the event which was planned and supported by the neighbouring community, ‘Friends of McConnell Reserve’ and the ‘5049 Coastal Community Association’.

Easy listening background music and singing was provided by Forte and djembe drumming contributed to the natural environs.

The newly renovated Eastern side where tennis, basketball and badminton could be played was appreciated by all ages, while face painting was a favourite for the littlies. Free drinks and nibbles were provided for the hard – working volunteers in our community, who work tirelessly towards community and environmental well – being.

The Neighbour Day Raffle raised over $500 to be used to support our volunteers. Winners won a selection of prizes, from the famous Boral Eagle through to bottles of wine.

Events like this encourage connection and belonging in our neighbourhoods, strengthening the community spirit needed to preserve our local spaces for future generations. Let’s make it happen!

View the latest Neighbour Day newsletter in the link here.