Riverglades association opens its arms to all east-side residents
An association formed to save a wetland on Murray Bridge’s east side in the 1980s is morphing into a Landcare group.
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Membership of a Riverglades association will soon be made free for all east-siders as it morphs into a Landcare group for Murray Bridge East.
Riverglades Community and Wetlands Incorporated is the new name for the association which was originally formed in 1988 to save the east-side wetland from developers.
For years its volunteers maintained the Riverglades Community Wetland and its walking trails, boardwalks and turtle nests.
Since the wetland’s sale to the Murray Bridge council in 2022, the association had been dormant.
But its members – including John Courtney, Jerry Wilson and Trevor Bishop – believe locals can still have a role to play in preserving a community asset enjoyed by so many walkers and fishers.
The group is in the process of joining Landcare Australia, a national network of community organisations dedicated to preserving the environment.
That will give volunteers insurance coverage, and may open up funding options for local projects.
As part of the shift, at a meeting on March 30, the association’s members voted to make membership free for all nearby residents.
“It’ll give us a chance to open up … to a much wider audience,” Mr Bishop said.
“Hopefully there’s some people out there that have got an interest in that Riverglades area, which has still got a lot to offer in terms of bird life, frog breeding … there’s a whole lot of positive things out there.”
Murray Bridge Mayor Wayne Thorley also made an appearance at the meeting, and acknowledged that there was more the council needed to do to look after the wetland now that it was a public park.
That included making a decision about whether to rebuild the path which looped around the wetland prior to the 2022-23 floods, or whether to build a raised boardwalk along the old levee bank instead.
The council might be able to apply for funding from the Murray-Darling Basin Authority to help with that work, he suggested.
But a revitalised association could help, too.
The association is expected to make a public call-out for new members in the coming months.
- Express an interest in joining: Email rivergladeswetlands5253@gmail.com.
- Read more: Riverglades wetland is safe – now it’s time to hand it over
- Read more: More walking trails, volunteer programs planned at Riverglades wetland
