A formal committee was elected on November 18th 2020. The committee is working towards consolidating the vision, goals and first projects for the group. We are also looking forward to partnering with Te Runanga o Kaikoura and joining the Hurunui District Landcare Group; working together to improving the overall mauri/lifeforce of the Jed River catchment.
Just a quick update to let you know where things are up to with the Jed River Catchment Project. The big news is that funding has been secured (through Environment Canterbury) to start work on a restoration project on the Hutchison Reserve area (on the corner of McQueens Road & Hutchison Road, downstream of the bridge). Essentially the project involves initial control of the major weed species (willows. alders and periwinkle), followed by progressively planting up the site by establishing native communities. The work started today on willow control. The weed control contractor (Elite Trees) will be on site cutting down trees, moving logs to higher ground out of the floodway, and mulching branches. They will probably be there for about a week, and will be working “school hours”. The chainsaws and mulcher will be noisy, but they won’t be there for long. Cutting down the willows will completely change the appearance of the Reserve, which will initially look a bit like a bomb site. But as new plantings (first major planting in spring this year) begin to establish there will be a slow transformation towards natural forest communities on the upper levels, and riparian and edge communities. We are very conscious of the flooding issue so all large woody material will be removed from the floodway, including dead material which is currently causing issues. Only sedges will be planted within the active floodway, and they fold over in times of flood and have extensive root systems to bind the soil and take up nutrients. An example of the problems which can arise can be seen at the downstream end of the Reserve where slumping is creating a “waterfall” in the stream, and this is migrating quite rapidly upstream with each flood. This is an issue which we intend to address in future. So, in short, things are about to start, the site will look very different, but please be patient and wait for the transformation towards a more natural community. We see this as a major win for the environment and community of Cheviot, and the beginning of things to come.
Catherine Maxwell - catherineconnector@gmail.com - 0211383841
Any queries please call Heidi 021457276 or Catherine 021 1383841 alternatively email jedrivercp@gmail.com. All welcome!