For many years Mutton Cove (on the northern boundary of ASC) bore signs declaring it a Conservation Reserve and a Friends group worked hard weeding and revegating the area.

After the seawall, protecting Mutton Cove from the Port River, was breached in May 2016 it became known that the area was Crown land but not a Reserve.

In 2016 Mutton Cove was mostly samphires, with mangroves along a tidal creek, fed from pipes into the River. In 2023 it’s now a mangrove forest. While some of the seawall remains at the northern end, the area is regularly flooded from the River and the surrounding banks are eroding endangering nearby infrastructure.

With the expansion of the defence industry nearby it is imperative that this important environmental area is protected and available to the public and the workers.