Friends of Ferguson Conservation Park

FRIENDS OF FERGUSON PARK
This group of people interested in the welfare of the Park meet on the first Sunday of every month at 10 am. The Park is located 6.5km east of Adelaide. Access is via Hallett Road, Stonyfell. Walking trails can also be accessed from Stonyfell Road and Marble Terrace.
The Friends have undertaken the following projects:

Weed removal

Seed collection and plant propagation

Revegetation

Participation with local schools in planting programmes

Path rehabilitation

Bridge construction

Creek erosion control

Nature trail preparation

Campaign for local awareness and appreciation of the Park

FERGUSON PARK TURNS 75

In August of this year Ferguson Park marks a significant milestone, namely its 75th anniversary.

The 8 ha nature reserve located in the eastern Adelaide suburb of Stonyfell is a rare example of the original foothills’ vegetation of the Adelaide Plains as it sits between the clay soils of the Kensington area and the sandstone of the hills east of Stonyfell.

It was August 1949 when the reserve was dedicated as a National Pleasure Resort Reserve, administered by the S.A. Tourist Bureau. It remained as such until 1972 when it was re-gazetted under the new National Parks & Wildlife Act as a Recreation Park and then, in 1977 it was designated as a Conservation Park in recognition of its biodiversity values.

The reserve was left to the people of South Australia under the terms of the Will of Miss Alice Effie Ferguson of Stonyfell. Miss Ferguson and her family lived at Chiverton which her widowed mother Jessie had purchased in 1896. In 1925, Effie’s uncle, the solicitor George Melrose, purchased the adjoining bushland (now the Park) as a conservation block. On his death in 1944 the whole property passed to his niece. The reserve land was formally transferred on 22nd June 1949.

Miss Ferguson also left three allotments opposite the entrance to Chiverton to the City of Burnside as a public reserve. The homestead block was purchased in 1949 by St Peter’s Collegiate Girls’ School which relocated from Kermode Street, North Adelaide to the property in 1957.

A community-based friends group was formed on 9th August 1982 with Ken Preiss of Stonyfell as its first president. Ken had lobbied for many years to have the park designated as a Conservation Park. The group was a founding member of the highly successful Friends of Parks scheme that was introduced that same year.

The Tourist Bureau built the Hallett Road entrance comprising wrought iron gates and surrounding stone pillars and walling and placed a brass memorial plaque on one of the pillars. The brass plaque survived there for 51 years until it was stolen in May 2020. The Friends of Ferguson CP made the decision to raise funds to replace the plaque with a replica of the original bronze plaque. In the week before the end of the 2021 school year, members of St Peters’ Girls School’s Environment Group unveiled a new memorial plaque at the Hallett Road gates. The student group has been associated with the Friends’ group since 1986.

FFCP are proud to uphold the philosophy that saw the established the Friends of Parks movement. Environmental citizenship is even more critical today than it was in 1982 when the scheme was launched.

Dr Geoffrey Bishop, President, Friends of Ferguson Conservation Park