Fairy Meadow - Environment

Fairy Meadow is part of the Cabbage Tree Creek catchment. It is predominantly urbanised with only the steeper sections of the escarpment remaining undeveloped.

Many years of catchment clearance and urbanisation have resulted in a highly modified and significantly degraded coastal catchment. Flooding has been a major problem in the area and over the last 50 years Cabbage Tree Creek catchment is recorded as experiencing some degree of flooding 16 times. Cabbage Tree Creek shares a common outlet with Fairy Creek adjacent to Puckeys Estate in North Wollongong.

The steep slopes of the escarpment are dominated by wet-sclerophyll forest with warm temperate rainforest and patches of subtropical rainforest in the gullies. Most of the foothills have been cleared with only some remnant bushland and riparian stands remaining in the lower parts. Apart from selected reserves, the coastal plain is nearly all cleared of remnant vegetation. (Peterson, 2002)