As i was waiting around, a firetruck pulled up nearby, a bin for some flats was smoking, they dealt with that quickly.

I got started on clearing the rest of the brambles, pulled up some of the roots, and scratched myself again. Comparing the before and after pictures, I believe if we had 1 more person all the brambles would have been cut down. The roots are a bigger job though, but its starting to look more like a gathering space.