Merilyn House has been the driving force behind keeping Helensburgh’s bushland pristine for more than three decades.

Last September marked 30 years since Merilyn and her husband, Allan, held the first group workday for Helensburgh and District Landcare, clearing weeds at Helensburgh Creek by the Old Mine Surgery.

In 1995, two years after starting the volunteer-run Landcare group, they came upon their first major project, assisting the local mine with the excavation of 70-plus years’ worth of soil and silt that had buried Helensburgh’s original railway platform and popular Glowworm Tunnel.

“My eldest son was really interested in railways… and we'd noticed some work going on down here, and so he came down and someone had started excavating and he said, ‘See those bricks that are just showing over there? That's the old railway platform’,” Merilyn said.

“It was the mine who was cleaning – starting to – and they had been thinking that they'd start using it as water storage again, which is what they used to use it for way, way back, originally before there was town water.

“So Allan rang up the mine and said, ‘The historical railway station platform is still under the dirt there’, and in the end, they agreed that they'd pay to have it all excavated as long as he came down and supervised.”

The site has since become one of the key areas that Helensburgh and District Landcare’s volunteers return to for regular weeding, and the group officially became Crown Land managers of the site in 2018.

But just as important to conserve as the site’s environment is its history. In 2001, a Centenary of Federation grant was used to restore the original Helensburgh Station sign, with its distinctive white letters on a black board. Dating back to 1889, the old timber sign had been discovered in the gully next to the current station. This sign later had to be replaced by a metal one, which Helensburgh Men’s Shed helped to make and install in 2020. This was paid for by Helensburgh Landcare. (You can read more about the town's old tunnels on Helensburgh and District Historical Society's website.)

It’s for this work and her many decades of volunteering with Landcare that Merilyn was awarded the Silver (Rise & Shine) Award by Wollongong City Council at a ceremony held on December 8 last year.

“It was a surprise, it was, because we have participated in Rise & Shine every year since we started Landcare,” Merilyn said.

“Early on, Landcare itself got the Basil Ryan Award for all the work we'd put into… cleaning up Cawley Road. So I thought [this award] was for Helensburgh Landcare, but it was for me, for my commitment to Rise & Shine over the years, and also for protecting the Glowworm Tunnel and the heritage of the area.

“It was nice to have a bit of recognition.

“I can't go on drives anywhere without seeing the weeds and I can't go on walks anywhere without pulling out weeds.”

Merilyn’s commitment to Helensburgh and District Landcare has never wavered as she continues to facilitate meetings on alternating Thursdays and Sundays each month and educates the wider community through her regular column, Be Weed Wise, in The Illawarra Flame.

Unfortunately, over its 30-year run, the group’s membership has dropped significantly, from about a dozen volunteers to just three or four more recently.

As invasive species become more prevalent in local bushland, Merilyn fears that without more volunteers Landcare may lose the battle against weeds.

“Gradually, a lot of the original people that used to do Landcare have moved out of Helensburgh and trying to get new people involved has been a bit hard in spite of trying to put articles in the local papers and run a Facebook page,” she said.

“I think it's good for just, for a start, getting out in the fresh air and doing things, and also learning about the problems… [weeds which they] might even have growing in their garden.

“Everyone's welcome… [but] we need a few young people to come and help; they’ve got a lot more energy than we do.”

Helensburgh and District Landcare’s big yearly clean-ups run in conjunction with Rise & Shine and Clean Up Australia may be the perfect place to start, with the last year’s Clean Up Australia Day event the most successful they’ve ever held.

“Last year was the most we've had because there was a whole pile of people who turned up, including parents and children from the Kids' Corner Childcare Centre,” Merilyn said.

“I virtually just provide a spot for people to come and register and then they go and clean up an area that they've seen.

“Seeing rubbish around everywhere just isn't a nice look, and a lot of it gets washed down into the creeks and then causes problems later on with our local wildlife, and the whole problem with microplastics getting into the environment.”

To join Helensburgh and District Landcare, see their website.

On Clean Up Australia Day, on Sunday, 3 March, Landcare will clean up Helensburgh’s footpaths, creeks and parks.

Register at the Old Mine Surgery, 78 Parkes St, between 10am and 1pm. You’ll be given a bag to clean up an area of your choice – a local street, park, creek, etc. Once you’ve finished, return the bag of rubbish.

Please wear long pants and shirt, sturdy closed-in shoes, and bring gloves and water.

More info: 0414 819 742 or email merilyn@helensburghlandcare.org.au