Merewether Landcare group has proposed a bushland heritage park located behind Merewether Baths.

Group member Griff Foley took the proposal to a Newcastle City Council public voice committee last Tuesday, December 8, to explain to councillors what the park would include.

Merewether Landcare group has cleaned up the bushland behind the baths for six years.

Mr Foley said the group met every Tuesday to weed out the bitou bush and other weeds, plant natural vegetation and regenerate the sand dunes.

“In the past six years we have planted more than 25,000 native plants, we have fixed up the gardens and cleaned the car parks,” Mr Foley said.

Despite the maintainence of the area, Mr Foley said the group wanted to do more to the site, to ensure others were able to see the work that had been done.

“We’re all retired, we’ve got good lives and thought this was an opportunity to give back to the community that has been so good to us.

“We thought, we have done all this work here, we should be able to get something up and running for others to see,” Mr Foley said.

The heritage park proposal includes a boardwalk from the upper baths car park to the natural amphitheatre. It also includes a viewing deck at Robinson Reserve car park and picnic spaces.

Mr Foley said the site also had potential for a café or one could even be put in the baths pavilion.

He said the park was only in the early planning stages and the group would continue to discuss the plan with the council and look at ways of funding the project.