Makeover for Geraldton’s ‘Rum Jungle’

Every time Drummond Cove resident Heather Beswick walks through the back of Rum Jungle — a block of bushland in Glenfield — she is appalled by the state it is in.

For years, the triangular strip of land on the west side of Chapman Road, south of Macedonia Drive, has been overrun with invasive African boxthorn plants and used as an illegal dumping ground.

“It was pretty awful with all the rubbish,” she said.

“I’ve seen old rusted bits of machinery, whitegoods, garden refuse.

“It seems to be an area people think they can dump rubbish which is illegal and not good for the environment.”

Instead of airing her grievances on social media, Ms Beswick decided to take action and approached the City of Greater Geraldton, voicing the community’s desire to clean up the bushland.

The City agreed to support the grassroots project, which is registered with the Keep Australia Beautiful Adopt-A-Spot program.

Work has already started to remove invasive plants, with further efforts to restore the block expected over the coming months.

“I was rapt the City has come on board, I’m really impressed,” Ms Beswick said.

“We’re only doing a small section that’s owned by the City but the rest is privately owned. Hoping it’ll have a flow-on effect and at the end of the day, it’s about education and raising awareness.

“Illegal dumping is a problem throughout the whole City, but if we can make people aware there’s eyes and ears out there, hopefully that will reduce the problem.

“We’ve only got one natural environment and we’ve got to look after it; not just for us but the future generations and the creatures we share it with.”

The first stage of the clean-up started on Monday and was expected to take around six days to complete.

At the end of summer, a hands-on removal of the remaining rubbish will take place.