Preserve the Charles & Motee Rogers Bushland Reserve at Highfields

The Toowoomba Regional Council has proposed a 3 metre wide walkway/cycle path through the Charles & Motee Rogers Bushland Reserve at Highfields. The Charles & Motee Rogers Bushland Reserve is one of the last remaining patches of remnant bushland in the Highfields area and has been identified as an "endangered" ecosystem under the Queensland Vegetation Management Act 1999. Although isolated from other areas and comparatively small, this Bushland Reserve protects a representative sample of the forest that once covered the Highfields area. Charles and Motee Rogers Park Bushland Reserve also provides vital habitat for a range of important native plants and animals including the vunerable Koala and Sugar Gliders. Any loss of this reserve would be detrimental to all wildlife that reside in this area and could result in rare native fauna being lost forever.

We propose that the location of the footpath be re-located to the already cleared "footpath" section along O'Brien Road beside the reserve, not through it.  A footpath along O'Brien Road from the Highfields State High School to the Highfields Cultural Centre and Sports Centre would be a much safer option for school students and would avoid any destruction of the Charles & Motee Rogers Bushland Reserve.

Charles and Motee Rogers were Toowoomba residents well known for their musical talents. They donated the Bushland Reserve to Crows Nest Shire Council (now Toowoomba Regional Council) in the early 1990s, and bequeathed the remainder of their Highfields property to the Royal Flying Doctor Service. Charles and Motee Rogers Park celebrates their considerable generosity and their intention for this small reserve to be protected so future generations can enjoy it.

Please sign this petition to indicate your support of the proposed re-location of the proposed footpath to O'Brien Road Highfields as an alternative.