City of Burnside - Geography

Geography

Burnside is in an area of 27.53 km² (2,753 hectares) and located to the south-east of the Adelaide CBD's parklands, extending to the Cleland Conservation Park in the Mount Lofty Ranges. Two creeks of the River Torrens run through a gradually sloping plain from the ranges, there is much variation in land use and topography.

Before European Settlement in South Australia much of the Adelaide Plains was swamps and woodland. In what was to become Burnside, plains leading out to Unley hosted the large Black Forest of Grey Box woodland, to the north the floodplains of First and Second Creeks there was Blue Gum and River Red Gum. Nearer to the foothills, in Mount Osmond and Waterfall Gully a more diverse range of plant species existed; Manna Gum and Blue Gum were predominant however. With colonisation underway, much of the native foliage was cut down to be used for crops and grazing. Market Gardens in the Adelaide Hills lowered the amount of water flowing down the creeks and some of the Hills Face was used for quarrying. Early crops grown included olive groves, grapes for winewaking, wheat and barley. Agriculture greatly declined and only vineyards survive today in Magill and Waterfall Gully.

With new suburbs being gazetted in the 20th century, the Burnside Council undertook ambitious tree-planting, beautification and conservation schemes to slow and then reverse a negative impact on the natural environment. 190 hectares of the council area is held in reserves and parks and some 35,000 trees line the streets. A 'Second Generation Tree Planting Program' has been underway since 1993. Notable parks and reserves include Chambers Gully, Langman Reserve and Hazelwood Park.