Cottonwood tree study

Currimundi to Wickham Point, Caloundra

The cottonwood tree study - Currimundi to Wickham Point, Caloundra aims to inform and provide continuity of service for vegetation management throughout this part of the coastline.

In August 2017, a resolution was passed by council to undertake an investigation regarding the overall characteristics of cottonwood trees to include data such as distribution, growth patterns, habitat values and landscape relationships and consideration of alternate landscape options.

This brief (PDF, 120KB) was developed to inform the extent and scope of the study.

The cottonwood tree study is now finalised. 2 workshops were undertaken in early 2019 to allow the consultants to present council with the findings and proposed options:

workshop 1 presented the report (PDF, 9576KB) and provided an overview of the findings. Please note that the representative sites referenced on Page 64 of the report are based on data from the Queensland Herbarium. This can be viewed in the supporting representative site map and data (PDF, 173KB)
workshop 2 enabled councillors to further investigate the application of the options and the supporting decision matrix (PDF, 121KB) on several different sites and locations.

The cottonwood tree study and supporting decision matrix will provide guidance to council when considering and accessing future management options.

Shelly Beach park landscape project

Council completed the Shelly Beach park landscape project in June 2020. This was a pilot project identified by council as an outcome from the cottonwood tree study to improve the safety, ecology and amenity of this high profile area. As part of the project council selectively removed 1 living and 3 dead cottonwood trees and replaced them with over 2000 native shrubs, ground covers and tree species.