ANNUAL REPORT 2005
WORK PARTIES
Eastenders:
Much of our activity in the past year has been concentrated in Barnett Park where work has continued on repair, upgrading and maintenance of the circuit track. The eastern side was completed last summer and autumn with the installation of 26 box drains to alleviate water damage to the track. In September we began to work on the western track and this too, is now largely completed. The track verges require frequent cutting with brush cutters to contain the vigorous growth of weeds and grass. This work, plus regular mowing of the grass tracks on the flats, is a continuing project.The other major work during the year was the upgrade of the Mt Pleasant Bluffs track. This has not seen much maintenance for some time and some track re-alignment and step building were needed. In addition, the track was in danger of being overgrow in places requiring hard pruning.
As usual, we assisted Port Hills’ staff with the annual schools’ Arbour Day plantings, digging some 460 holes the week before the event and, on the day helping Port Hills staff with planting supervision. Plantings at the Sumnervale Reserve were undertaken during the winter with over 500 native trees and shrubs being installed. Over the summer we have cleared weeds and excess grass from these and they are showing good growth.
One new track was built during the year - a morning’s work. This connected the Heathcote Quarry track with the Scott Reserve adjacent to John Britten Reserve. We installed a new stile connecting the two and also helped with the removal of old fence posts, wire and other debris from the area. Other activities have included broom clearance adjacent to the Crater Rim, Major Hornbrook and Chalmers link tracks and a general tidying of the Jollies Bush reserve - last done some 5 years ago!
Numbers have remained fairly steady over the year with the average turn out each workday at 21.
In conclusion I would like to thank Port Hills Ranger staff, in particular Nick Singleton and Di Carter for their assistance and encouragement over the year. Also, grateful thanks to section leaders Ken Rossiter, Bob Cawley and Alan Davies and all members of the work gang, all of whom turn out cheerfully and work with great enthusiasm.
Geoff Bendall
Ohinetahi:
Our relatively small team of 12, with an average of 8 turning out each Tuesday, suits our activities and requirements quite well, although we always welcome our Eastender friends, who visited us twice during the year. Additional recruits for the group will also be very welcome.Our first attempts at planting native seedlings four seasons ago, were discouraging with dry summers and devastation by rabbits and possums. More recent results are very encouraging along our boundaries above Governors Bay. Control of pests by poisoning has helped, as has improved summer rainfall and more attention to mulching. One of our more recent members, Robin Collie, has taken ‘ownership’ of this area and often works several days a week ringing the area with bait stations and attending to the seedlings. It is encouraging to note the seedlings propagating naturally among the more mature forest. We have recently developed a pest management strategy, and have bought a number of bait stations and traps together with bait and poison, courtesy of a Transpower Landcare Trust grant. We intend to expand our trapping and poisoning activities to the upper boundary to complement the City Council’s work in Kennedy’s Bush, and to the area around the Ohintahi Stream.
Weeding remains a major activity as we continue to find new infestations and return to check areas cleared one or two seasons ago. Passionfruit, old man’s beard, spindleberry and barberry are the weeds we concentrate on both on our reserve and adjacent properties. Growth of grass and foliage in early summer keeps us busy on clearing along our network of tracks over this period. Occasionally, for a change and on request, we have worked on other reserves such as Kennedy’s Bush, Omahu Bush and a private reserve in Governors Bay. I would like to thank the members of the team for their continued commitment and enthusiasm.
Mike White
Weekenders:
2005 was a milestone for the Weekenders. With membership now standing at nine, we have a viable group. The year also saw us take on a specific project, with a number of visits to the lower part of Sugarloaf Reserve where we have been tackling old man’s beard. This project will continue during 2006. The group also worked in Scotts Reserve, at the Sign of the Bellbird, Latters Spur in Victoria Park, and Cracroft Reserve.I would like to take this opportunity of thanking the Port Hills Rangers for their support, particularly Di Carter, and the members of the group, Steve Cottrell, Jim Grennell, John McGowan, Richard Pickering, Ron and Sue Ricketts, Kai Tegel and John Watson.
John Goodrich