Editing Belair National Park (section)

==History==
Belair was originally inhabited by the [[Kaurna]] Aboriginal people. The area was called Pradli, which means “baldness”, because the appearance of the area when looking south from the [[Adelaide Plains]] was “bald like the moon.”<ref name="ParksSA">{{cite web|url=https://www.parks.sa.gov.au/find-a-park/Browse_by_region/Adelaide_Hills/belair-national-park|title=Belair National Park|publisher=National Parks and Wildlife Service South Australia|access-date=3 March 2020|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200302224823/https://www.parks.sa.gov.au/find-a-park/Browse_by_region/Adelaide_Hills/belair-national-park|archive-date=2 March 2020}}</ref> The first Europeans to set foot in the area were crewmen from the ''[[Coromandel (1834 ship)|Coromandel]]'' in 1837.<ref name="ParksSA"/> The first European to settle in the area was a squatter, E. Nicholas Foott, who in 1839 dug a well and built a stone cottage, spending £500 despite not holding a title to the land.<ref name="FRR">{{cite web|url=https://www.southaustralianhistory.com.au/belairnp.htm|title=Belair National Park|work=Flinders Ranges Research|access-date=3 March 2020|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200302231733/https://www.southaustralianhistory.com.au/belairnp.htm|archive-date=2 March 2020}}</ref> In 1840, South Australian governor [[George Gawler]] set the land aside for a government farm,<ref name="ParksSA"/> forcing Foott to leave the land, though he was paid £300 for his improvements to the land (he later became a member of the [[Victorian Legislative Assembly]]).<ref name="FRR"/>

[[File:Belair Old Government House.jpg|thumb|right|Old Government House, a historic building in Belair National Park.]]
Governor Grey arrived in May 1841, with a remit to cut Government expenditure and raise revenue, and announced in the Gazette of 15 July of the intended sale by auction of the land. This, however, did not take place, and in the depression of 1841–1842 a dozen or so unemployed men and their families were allowed to settle there temporarily. In June 1844, four sections at the western end (874, 875, 878 and 882) totalling about {{convert|400|acres|ha}} were sold. In 1848 a cottage, long since demolished, was erected alongside the creek as a residence for the farm manager, and for occasional use by the Governor. In 1858 a residence, complete with swimming pool, was built as a "summer house" for the Governor, [[Richard Graves MacDonnell|Sir Richard MacDonnell]] (served 1855–1862), and used by his successors Sir [[Anthony Musgrave]] (1873–1877), and Sir [[William Jervois]] (1877–1883), until the more imposing edifice at [[Marble Hill, South Australia|Marble Hill]] was completed in 1880. Now known as [[Old Government House, South Australia|Old Government House]], the building is heritage-listed.

From 1874 to 1884 the Government Farm was managed by William Cook (1815–1897), father of [[Edith Agnes Cook]]. His eldest daughter Katherine wrote an article on that period of the farm's history<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article48771970 |title=Out among the People |newspaper=[[The Advertiser (Adelaide)]] |volume=LXXXVI |issue=26538 |location=South Australia |date=25 October 1943 |access-date=15 July 2016 |page=4 |via=National Library of Australia |archive-date=1 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210901024402/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/48771970 |url-status=live }}</ref> for the South Australian Archives.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article48776363 |title=Death Of Miss Harriet Cook |newspaper=[[The Advertiser (Adelaide)]] |volume=LXXXVI |issue=26571 |location=South Australia |date=2 December 1943 |access-date=14 July 2016 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia |archive-date=1 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210901024415/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/48776363 |url-status=live }}</ref> His predecessor was Ebenezer Jarvis (c. 1829–1897), who left to take a post as manager of [[Government House, Adelaide]]. Two great [[Bushfires in Australia|bushfires]] occurred during their time; in 1866/1867 and 1877, when many old trees were destroyed.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article160153194 |title=The Government Farm |newspaper=[[Adelaide Observer]] |volume=XXXIX |issue=2102 |location=South Australia |date=14 January 1882 |access-date=15 July 2016 |page=35 |via=National Library of Australia |archive-date=1 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210901024406/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/160153194 |url-status=live }}</ref> Proposals in 1881 to sell off parts of small portions of the land were opposed by Walter Gooch, James Page and the [[Australian Natives Association]], which led in 1883 to an Act of Parliament prohibiting its sale. In 1888 further agitation by Gooch, Arthur Falconer Robin (1867–1906) and Samuel Dixon of the [[Royal Society of South Australia]] led to a parliamentary decision that the Government Farm be established as a public park, and after some delays the National Park Act received the Governor's assent in January 1892.<ref>J. B. Cleland, in ''National Park and Reserves'', Bernard C. Cotton ed., Government Printer, Adelaide 1953</ref> Another person given partial credit was William Henry Selway of the [[Field Naturalists Society of South Australia|Field Naturalists' Section of the Royal Society]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article129184648 |title=Long Public Career |newspaper=[[The News (Adelaide)]] |volume=IX |issue=1,382 |location=South Australia |date=19 December 1927 |access-date=19 July 2018 |page=11 |via=National Library of Australia |archive-date=1 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210901024404/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/129184648 |url-status=live }}</ref>

A nine-hole golf course was constructed in the southwest corner of the park in 1934 in an attempt by the state government to raise money for the park's maintenance during the Great Depression.<ref name="Soccer">{{cite web|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-02-22/little-support-for-soccer-at-former-belair-golf-course-site/13176864|title=Soccer pitch at former Belair Golf Course site failing to draw local support|work=ABC News|last=Sutton|first=Malcolm|date=22 February 2021|access-date=5 December 2021}}</ref> The course was expanded to 18 holes in 1941, redeveloped in the 1970's, and sold to a private operator in 1982. The Belair Park Country Club ran the course until it went into administration in January 2018.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/messenger/east-hills/belair-national-park-golf-course-at-point-of-no-return-and-no-one-knows-what-to-do-with-it-next/news-story/8bd0f54fb80d50ad17422de1d94d5c1e|title=Belair National Park Golf Course at point of no return — and no one knows what to do with it next|work=HillsValley Weekly Messenger|date=12 March 2018|access-date=5 December 2021}}</ref> The state government proposed to repurpose part of the golf course and build a seven-pitch soccer field for the [[Sturt Lions FC|Sturt Lions Football Club]], but this proposal met with backlash from the local community during the public consultation period, with more than 8,000 people signing a petition opposing the development.<ref name="Soccer"/><ref name="returned">{{cite web|url=https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/messenger/adelaide-hills/golf-course-at-belair-national-park-to-be-returned-to-lowimpact-sports-and-revegetation/news-story/aa9a62c7bf514906c4ab77ebfadb2f42|title=Golf course at Belair National Park to be returned to low-impact sports and revegetation|work=The Advertiser|last=Etheridge|first=Michelle|date=22 October 2021|access-date=5 December 2021}}</ref> The day after the consultation period ended, Environment Minister [[David Speirs]] announced that the plan would not go ahead,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-05-07/large-proposal-of-any-kind-ruled-out-at-belair-golf-course/100124052|title=Large developments off the table at former Belair Golf Course as 'rug pulled out' from soccer club|work=ABC News|last=Sutton|first=Malcolm|date=7 May 2021|access-date=5 December 2021}}</ref> and in October 2021, the government announced that high-impact development in the former golf course would be banned and that parts of the land would be re-vegetated and returned to the rest of the park.<ref name="returned"/>

In 1985, the Belair National Park was declared as a state heritage area under the ''South Australian Heritage Act 1978-1980''.<ref name="SHA">{{cite web | url=http://www.environment.sa.gov.au/our-places/Heritage/Visiting_heritage_places/State_heritage_areas/Belair_National_Park | title=Belair National Park state heritage area | publisher=Government of South Australia | access-date=4 December 2016 | archive-date=9 August 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160809043942/http://www.environment.sa.gov.au/our-places/Heritage/Visiting_heritage_places/State_heritage_areas/Belair_National_Park | url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="SAGG-1985">{{cite web |last1=Hopgood |first1=Don |title=SOUTH AUSTRALIAN HERITAGE ACT, 1978-1980 Designation of State Heritage Area |url=http://www8.austlii.edu.au/au/other/sa_gazette/1985/65.pdf |website=The South Australian Government GAzette |publisher=Government of South Australia |access-date=2 August 2019 |pages=905–906 |date=16 September 1985 |quote=All that land being sections 599, 675, and 1037 in the hundred of Adelaide as shown in the plan as a State Heritage Area. |archive-date=2 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190802093408/http://www8.austlii.edu.au/au/other/sa_gazette/1985/65.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1987, the nearby [[National Park railway station, South Australia|National Park railway station]] was closed.

===Weed invasion===
[[File:Hypericum perforatum field belair park.jpg|left|thumb|Invasive weed ''[[Hypericum perforatum]]'' in the Park]]
The first [[Europe]]an people traversed the Belair area in 1837. In 1840, [[Governor of South Australia|Governor]] [[George Gawler|Gawler]] raised a government farm on which sick horses and bullocks from government departments could be agisted. In 1881, a proposal was put forward for small agricultural holdings and also, the national park was dedicated, making it the first National Park in South Australia. Many exotic and non-indigenous plants were introduced and are now found in the park as weeds. Numerous native plants, such as [[Cootamundra wattle]], have become environmental weeds after being introduced into areas outside their natural range.

The Belair National Park has suffered major disturbance to its natural ecosystems and natural vegetation communities through the accidental invasion of non-indigenous plants as well as the deliberate introduction of exotic and non-indigenous plants to certain zones within the park. In spite of these problems, several remnant stands of rare native plant species endemic to the Mt Lofty Ranges can be found there in season, mostly along tracks in less visited areas of the park's walking trail system. Both Donkey Orchids and Spider Orchids are among several diminutive flowers usually seen late winter each year.

A volunteer organisation named Friends of Belair National Park was formed in 1985, aiming to reduce the effect of invasive weeds within the park. The group meets regularly to manually or chemically remove accessible weeds, and also hosts nature walks and other events to increase community engagement with land management.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-05-22 |title=What's on - Friends of Belair National Park |url=https://friendsofbelairnationalpark.com/whats-on/ |access-date=2024-06-01 |website=friendsofbelairnationalpark.com |language=en-US}}</ref>