Perth Voice Interactive

With the first winter now gone since the Hyde Park lakes restoration, local environmental consultant Andrew Del Marco rates the outcome of the project an eight out of 10.

“They’ve made a good compromise between being true to the park, they’ve started to address the water quality issue, and they’ve done it for a pretty good price,” he says.

The restoration aimed to deal with the effect of hotter summers and lower rainfalls: The lakes were frequently dry in parts, turning them into an acid-sulphate rich sludge.

The Mt Lawley resident has keenly watched the works down at the lakes: When Vincent council first released a concept plan for a more “ornamental” lake that resembled an English garden, Mr Del Marco headed to council armed with a petition asking for a more sustainable and natural option. He was worried that moving the walls 5m inwards would shrink the lakes by 25 per cent.

That petition was successful, and the final plan saw the walls move in by 2m and some edges softened with sedges instead of hard walls.

He says a major part of the project to install a water-quality treatment train looks to have been a success during winter rains. This three-part system takes the runoff from a large chunk of Vincent’s roads and filters it before it gets into the lake, hopefully eliminating nasties and reducing the amount of algal bloom-causing nutrients.

Mr Del Marco says he’d like to see the pollutant trap system expanded across the suburb. He says “we’re living in a fool’s paradise” thinking we can drive around in a catchment and not have it drastically affect the lake.

He says councils like Mandurah have started installing them on smaller scales along roads to stop runoff contaminating stormdrains.

Vincent CEO John Giorgi says his staff is looking at other areas where traps can be installed as part of upgrades, and they’re being rolled out at Robertson Park and Beatty Park.

“Whilst it is only six months since completion, the restoration works at this point in time have been very successful, however a true guide will be able to be ascertained after a full 12-month period.

“At present the lakes are still full, the water quality is good, and the new plantings are going very well.”

Mr Del Marco says the loss of a jarrah near the treatment train was one downside of the works.

It was one of only a handful of native trees in the park, and the most significant at more than 100 years of age.

Mr Giorgi says every effort was made to protect the tree, but too many surface roots had been damaged during installation.

by DAVID BELL