A $2 million project to transform the mouth of the New Town Rivulet into a natural environment has begun.
The initiative by the Hobart and Glenorchy City Councils will take six months to complete and will involve extensive earthworks and landscaping.
Lord Mayor Anna Reynolds said the project will see over 300 metres of the rivulet, from the Queens Walk Bridge to the mouth, transformed into a natural river water mouth.
“We are removing the cracked and damaged 60-year-old concrete walls and replacing them with 45,000 plants lining the embankment and esplanade,” she said.
“This will be one of the largest mass plantings ever undertaken in Hobart and will include over 30 different native species going into the ground as part of the project.”
The current weir will remain, with its structure improved to prevent bank erosion and reduce sediment build-up at the rivulet mouth in New Town Bay.
“More than half of the plants have been grown at our own nursery and some of the plants we will be planting are rare in Tasmania and have been grown from seed collected from the area,” Reynolds said.
Glenorchy Mayor Sue Hickey said the project will create a recreational area that all local residents can enjoy.
“The improvements will also have benefits for our aquatic and bird wildlife,” she said.
