Colebrook Planting Day and Bonfire

On the banks of the Coal River, on landowner Phil Headlam's grazing property, a huge willow tree bonfire was lit as the last of the planters picked up their tools and collected empty pots and gathered for a sausage sizzle.

Earlier in the day, Phil and Helen Geard from the Southern Midlands Council had worked placing stakes, weed mats and tree guards by every hole they had dug. Soon busses and cars arrived and food and drinks unloaded. Forty two people had come to help plant the river bank.

Students from Woodbridge District School and their teacher Nel Smit had propagated seeds from the Campania area and were keen to help with the planting. Students from Campania District School were there to assist with the planting too and a formal "handing over" of plants from one group to the other' was the start of the afternoon. A bucket brigade was organised to water the new plants and plastic tree guards quickly sprouted the length of the river bank. The bonfire signified the final demise of the willows that had formerly grown along the river bank, now home to hundreds of native Tasmanian plants.