Hobart crack willow removal project

Restoring rivulets and reducing flood risks

The City of Hobart has started work on an ambitious three year project to rid Hobart's rivulets and catchments of the highly invasive environmental weed crack willow (Salix fragils). 

The $1.1 million is being equally funded by the City of Hobart and the Australian Government through the Disaster Ready Fund and administered by the Tasmanian Government Department of Premier and Cabinet.

This species of willow tree chokes inland waterways and forms impenetrable thickets that lead to flooding and bank erosion, increasing the risks to people, homes, businesses and infrastructure during major flood events.  

Crack willow is also a highly invasive environmental weed. Its roots spread throughout waterways, pushing out native trees and shrubs, reducing oxygen available for fish and other aquatic wildlife, and making it hard for platypus to forage for food and create burrows. 

This project will reduce the risk and harm of major flood events to people, nature, built infrastructure and businesses. It will also lead to a more resilient community better prepared for and protected from major flood events. 

The project builds on earlier willow tree eradication work along the Hobart Rivulet, greatly expanding the scope of willow tree removal across the entire Hobart catchment.

Stage one of the project is focusing on removing crack willows from the Hobart Rivulet.

Track closures - Hobart Rivulet Track

On Tuesday 17 March we start work removing environmentally harmful and destructive crack willows from the city end of the Hobart Rivulet.

Heavy equipment will be in use and the last 500 metres of the Hobart Rivulet Track, from Gore Street to the Hobart Linear Park entrance, will be closed from 9am to 3.30pm.

 We hope to have the work completed by this Friday, 21 March, but may need to extend the project into the following week.

Alternative routes

• Pedestrians heading into the city: Turn on to McKellar Street at Gore Street and up the steps opposite to Liverpool Street and then into town.
• Cyclists heading into the city: Turn right at Gore Street, and then left into Macquarie Street for a quick cycle into town.

Hobart Rivulet Track will remain open on weekends.

 

Willow infestations on Hobart Rivulet