As part of the Northern Rivers Watershed Initiative (NRWI), the owners of The Channon Tavern were recently awarded a grant to plant 2,500 trees on the banks of the creek below the venue.
The NRWI is a catchment and estuary restoration program devised for the Northern Rivers Joint Organisation (NRJO) footprint to address ecosystem health, water security and flood risk issues across the Tweed, Brunswick, Richmond and Evans River systems.
A mammoth task
Co-owner of the business Sebastian Brady, purchased theTavern in 2022, following the devastating floods. ‘Rebuilding the tavern has been a mammoth task both challenging and deeply rewarding. Our mission was to restore not just a heritage building, but a vital part of the community.’
Mr Brady says he believes the new owners’ journey reflects the resilience of a small community and the power of determination. ‘As the most visible point in the village, we felt a responsibility to give back not only aesthetically, but environmentally.
‘This has been a personal passion project of mine something I believed needed to happen to help regenerate the land and restore the natural beauty of the area.’
Site is highly visible
Project officer with Richmond Landcare, Ivy Young, says the site here beside Terania Creek is highly visible. ‘People drive along the bridge, and they look down on this weed infested creek line that has just been in this horrible degraded state for decades.
‘Luckily, we’ve been able to secure funding through the Northern Rivers Watershed Initiative to be able to regenerate this section of the creek. So there was some heavy weed control, and then shortly afterwards, it’s was planted with about 2,500 trees and sedges on both sides of the creek, and then mulched.
Ms Young says the project will until October next year so there is time to do follow up maintenance. ‘We’re going to do a community planting day in springtime to go along with the Richmond River Fest – this is a great asset for the community to enjoy.’
Native vegetation really important
Lismore Council’s Environmental Strategies Officer (Rural Landholder Initiative), Ellie Sales, says this section of the creek is also highly mobile, so it’s moved a lot over time. ‘Native vegetation is really important to hold creek banks together.
‘Doing a project like this, where it is an extensive site, it would be quite expensive for a landholder to take on by themselves, but it’s also a really strategic area to do big planting. So it’s important for us to invest into sites like this.’
The intitial planting was completed at the start of June.
Mr Brady says being a new owner of a business in The Channon, it was important thim to do somethhing beneficial for the community. ‘It’s my way of trying to give back to this area after the recent devastation.’
The Northern Rivers Watershed Initiative is funded through a $5 million grant from the NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development.
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