Sustainability

Lake Treeby was established over an area that had previously been cleared, so hardly any native bushland needed to be cleared for development. Perron Group, the developers of Lake Treeby, intend to donate 46.2ha of precious Banksia Woodland nature reserves that surround the estate to the National Trust of Australia. They will become a regional park that is managed for conservation.

The developers of Lake Treeby have been enhancing the rehabilitation of the adjacent Rose Shanks conservation reserve.  We’ve relocated some vegetative materials and topsoil from Lake Treeby that contains the native seed bank and have spread it over a bare 1.75ha area in the reserve. This will aid in the regeneration of the reserve’s native bushland and create habitat for small native animals.

The King Spider Orchid (also known as the Grand Spider-orchid or Rusty Spider-orchid and Caladenia huegelii) are rare and occur naturally in Treeby. It is a slim orchid, usually growing 30–70 cm high, with one or two stunning flowers when in bloom. However, the orchid may not bloom every year and when it does, it only flowers for a few weeks during September to October. 

The nature reserves surrounding Lake Treeby have been retained, in part, to protect this critically endangered flower.  We also relocated some other Giant Spider-orchids to Kings Park for propagation to further ensure the species survival in Western Australia.

The water body that exists at Lake Treeby was originally a hole dug by Midland Brick in the 1950s to source water.  Over the years, trees grew up around it, ducks, fish, frogs and turtles ended up calling this lake their home.  The tall trees, fish, frogs and ducks remain, however we relocated the turtles to prevent any harm during the landscaping of the surrounding area. 

We’ve created an all ages recreation area around the lake, with spaces for play, exercise, relaxation, eating, socialising and simply admiring the natural wildlife of this area.

Parts of the Lake Treeby area were previously cleared for sand quarrying and this sand was used to make bricks. We’ve used some white calsil bricks in seating and paving in selected parks as a tribute to this unique brick that forms part of Western Australia’s brick making history.

Almost all mature trees near the lake and in recreation areas have been retained within Lake Treeby, through careful design. 

The parks and reserves at Lake Treeby are carefully planned to fully integrate best practice water sensitive design. They form essential parts of the overall drainage for the community – managing storm water and recharging the ground water through infiltration. There are infiltration basins and hidden underground water storage cells set below lawns that are combined with amended soils to treat and manage water.

Localised overland drainage flows provide for a level of passive irrigation and the use of waterwise landscaping and water efficient irrigation system, all contribute to meeting best practice objectives.

Rain that falls on the roads during certain storm events is stored in underground infiltration tanks in our parks. The water is infiltrated through amended soil to filter out nutrients, before soaking back into groundwater.

In addition, planting is hydrozoned, meaning plants are carefully selected and placed to reduce irrigation. Irrigated lawns are only in areas for active amenity uses and other areas are being established as natural managed bush with native species.

We’re also offering a native garden front landscaping package to all buyers.

The water systems of irrigation and drainage at Lake Treeby have been designed to meet high sustainability objectives.

Parks and gardens have an integrated water management system that minimises waste and utilises drainage to recharge groundwater. Private garden irrigation can also contribute to the overall water management of our community.

The Front Garden  Package includes an option to upgrade the residents irrigation controller to a state of the art, high performance Hunter Hydrawise unit. This technology enables additional watering management features that can automatically adjust watering schedules to reflect weather data, allow for fine tuning programs based on their specific micro climate and additionally monitor and identifies problems in pipes and wiring.

Lake Treeby identified a group of mature palm trees that were destined to be removed on an old rural property that will be urbanised.  As part of creating a unique neighbourhood park, it was decided to relocate these large trees, rather than see them felled.

Although not native, the trees have been saved and have now been carefully moved to become a feature in the Lake Treeby community. The palms are a Waterwise tree species and their rescue, relocation and establishment is part of Lake Treeby’s approach to sustainable landscaping.