Lloyd Reserve

Lloyd Reserve is a 16ha reserve found on the banks of the Avon River. It has an 0.8-km out-and-back walking trail that goes down to and along the edge of the river. 

Project Vision

• Lloyd Reserve will be a popular facet of an envisioned Avon River regional park.
• It will feature remnant biodiversity and natural habitats, conserved and interpreted by the TFOR for purposes of education and enjoyment for present and future generations.

Project Mission

‘Lloyd Reserve – conservation and community’

The Toodyay Friends of the River formed when a small group of people met to discuss ways of improving the health of the Avon River.

As the organisation developed, it considered a number of options on achieving this aim. A small parcel of land was cut off from Avon Location ‘V’ by the Standard Gauge Railway in the 1960s, rendering it virtually useless for farming. A proposal was put to the owner, on the 3rd October 1999, to donate the land, waiving the encumbrance imposed by Shire rates. This proposal was taken up, and through due process was given to the crown as a reserve.

This land now bears the name of the donor’s family – Lloyd Reserve, and serves as the only remaining connection between the location and the family.

The land was vested with the Water and Rivers Commission (now the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation – DWER), and has since been vested with the Shire of Toodyay (SOT). The TFOR have had a Management Agreement on the reserve since 2003, and currently have this agreement with the SOT. In 2011 TFOR completed a Strategic Development Plan (1.01MB)’ which sets out the management priorities for the reserve.

In taking over management of the reserve, there was an opportunity to develop a ‘seed orchard’, serving the duel purpose of providing a future seed bank and of revegetation. The Toodyay Seed Group (a sub-committee of the TFOR) set about establishing the orchard.

The Strategic Development Plan is the first of a suite of strategies to be developed by the TFOR. They will compliment the DWER’s ‘River Recovery Plans’, predominantly as ‘Working Plans’ that will assist to achieve the visions for the future of our Avon River.