SOWN life member and nursery manager 2000-04 Pete Dorney has died aged 80 years. Previously manager of the Greening Australia Nursery, Pete oversaw the SOWN nursery’s permanent move to the Paten Park site in early 2003. Current nursery coordinator Lynn Swan said “I owe all of my nursery knowledge to Pete… and the nursery pretty much still follows the systems he set up back in the early 2000s.”
Pete had worked as a teacher before becoming interested in botany and bush regeneration. Pete’s backyard in Bromwich Street The Gap overlooked a steep rocky section of Fish Creek which he worked to restore from 1998 until 2006. During that time there were regular, once-a-week, morning working bees attended by Pete’s partner Mareene Hutchings, his son Mark Dorney with partner Tricia Head, plus several other volunteers. The first working bee was literally in Pete’s backyard as they couldn’t get near the back fence for weeds. There was also help from Men of the Trees plus volunteers from the Greening Australia Nursery.
The weeding and planting gradually progressed from Pete’s backyard up and down Fish Creek and across to Michalea Crescent Park which became the name of the bushcare site. Pete also helped to establish the Walton Bridge bushcare site which started in 2002 as a sub-site of Michalea Crescent Park. Pete provided guidance and preliminary training to founders Mark Crocker, Anne Jones and Robert Whyte.
Pete and Mareene left The Gap in 2006 to move to Boreen Point on the banks of Lake Cootharaba on at the Sunshine Coast. Here Pete continued his interest in restoring and maintaining the local bush. He would head out into Lake Cootharaba in a canoe, moor at a likely spot and go looking for his favourite weed species. His preferred bushcare gear including minimal clothing except for a Legionnaires hat and a toolbelt but no boots.
SOWN nursery manager Pete Dorney with volunteer Vera Moffett in 2004. Photo: Robert Whyte
Fish Creek between Bromwich Street and Michaela Crescent Park 2004. Photo: Mareene Hutchings
Pete Dorney 1944-2025. Photo: Mark Crocker
