Stuart Park Restoration

Project
May 2014
Welcome everyone to the first Stuart Park Restoration newsletter.
Like everything in the Titahi Bay Community Group its early days and we have yet
to formalise the name for our project.

When my wife (Cherene) was a child,
her mum use to gather shell fish from
Onepoto bay in Porirua harbour and
flounder from under Paramata bridge.
Sadly we haven't had much respect for
our coastlines and reserves since
then. We have some family photos of
beach
buggies being driven (and dads car
being rolled) in Whitirea park!

Were I lived in Foxton Beach, the sand
dunes where for beach buggies and
the council in their wisdom had a rub-
bish tip amongst the sand dunes! If
you took a wrong turn in your beach
buggy you could end up in the tip!

Times have changes and so have our attitudes to our coastline and through
attitude comes action!

Background work for this project has been happening and happening it has!
John has established a back yard nursery at home and has approximately 200
trees for planting this winter. Seed form another 6 species, suitable for this park
has been eco sourced and sown, so fingers cross the chooks don't get into the
nursery. We will have a full production nursery this time next year.

Astrid has commenced work on a management plan for the park after initial
(positive) talks with the PCC reserve team. She will be taking all the issues such
as view shafts from the houses and track into account, restoration of different
habitat types such as costal forest, wetland, rocky outcrops for lizards, whilst re-
taining space for picnics, recreation and dog walking and horse riding.
This is not just a plant native trees project, there will be many interesting sub-
projects in years to come for people of all ages to get involved with. We will have
projects such as establishing lizard habitats, reintroducing rare plants & establish-
ing wetlands .

But first we have the boring stuff to do, so what
better way to celebrate mothers day then to
take my wife gorse cutting in Stuart Park!
Believe it or not we had a most enjoyable morn-
ing and we got some valuable insights into
what we where dealing with. More on this in the
newsletter.

So welcome to all from
John Hornblow, Cherene Neilson-Hornblow and Astrid van Meeuwen-Dijkgraaf



Motor Vehiculum
A species often found at base of cliffs and reserves in
the Porirua basin. Now extinct.



Seedling regenerating under protective canopy of Taupata.
White Rata flowering on cliff face.
View from track in Stuart Park
Sunset over Mana Island
Gorse was introduced to New Zealand by missionaries during the early
stages of European colonisation and quickly became a popular hedge
plant, remaining in widespread use as fence material until the 1950s,
when it was largely superseded by wire and posts. Although gorse was
identified as a major weed in New Zealand in 1859 and declared a weed
by Parliament as early as 1900, its agricultural uses meant that biological
control was not considered as a means of controlling gorse until the
1920s.
Astrid believes there is a range of active biocontrols in the gorse in Stuart
Park. Many of the plants have stem rot and you can break them simply
with a good stomp with your boots. The gorse in the image to the right is
looking very sick. We where chuffed with how easy it was to remove this
large clusters of gorse.
More on biocontrols can be found at http://tinyurl.com/k4m6374

Thanks to the Bunnings Garden Team.

We have to thank the
garden team at
Bunning's Porirua.

For nearly a year we
have been collecting
pots put aside by the
team from discarded
stock. Both our
nursery and another
home native plant
nursery have been supplied with pots. A big
thanks to the Bunning's garden team, very much appreciated.
Why Ecosource Seed?
Many of New Zealands plants have adapted to local con-
ditions, developing distinct attributes which give the spe-
cies resilience against a changing environment or threats
such as plant diseases. Through ecosourcing, we can
maintain this resilience and also achieve greater planting
success because the plants will be adapted to local con-
ditions and are therefore more likely to survive. This prac-
tice ensures that genetic diversity is maintained through-
out New Zealand.
Source: Environment Canterbury Regional Council brochure.

Stuart Park Working Bee
Date: Saturday 24th May, Sunday 25th May if wet.
Time: 1:30 pm

Jobs:
1. Easy to moderate
Walk around the park
and cut off any young
gorse seen establish-
ing in the grass. Kids
can tag along and play
spot the biocontrol!
Tools: Long sleeves,
gloves, garden
loapers.

2. Moderate to %$#$
Cut tracks into gorse bank on east side of park to allow for
planting of Ngaio amongst the established gorse.
Tools: Leather gloves, garden loapers, long sleeves, boots

Access: Park in Mako View (off Moki street), walk down track to
the park.

Contact John@titahi-bay.co.nz ph 236 8624
Cherene and I decide to tackle a cluster of gorse to see how achievable
remove is. Note the dead branches due to active biocontrol agents.
20 minutes later this mound is cut and lying in the paddock Cherene treats the stumps with our secret mix of herbs and spices.
Native Tree Nursery
We have established a back yard nursery for Stuart Park. In
under a year we have approx. 60 Ngaio, 80 Taupata and 100
or so other species. The decision to start the nursery was only
made in spring, all of the tress in the photo below are from
seedlings gathered from under trees in our neighbourhood.
Seed trays have been sown this year for a number of species
suitable for recolonisation of Stuart Park. All seed has been
eco-sourced from around Pikarere Hill other then cabbage
seed that came from plants in Taupo Swamp.

From PCC reserve finder website (edited):
Stuart Park
Primary Purpose of Reserve
Natural
Suburb
Titahi Bay
Heritage Values
Prehistoric and historic archaeological sites (terraces, cultivation, midden,
and Korohiwa whaling station). A Ngati Ira pa was located at Korohiwa. The
whaling station (1830s-1840s) is a rare example of a mainland shore whal-
ing station in the Wellington area .
GWRC Key Native Ecosystem.
Regenerating ngaio-mahoe bush within gorse-dominated scrub.
Contains stream with native fish.
Recreation Values
Walking, horse riding.
Dog Exercise Area.
Sightseeing.
Access to beach.
Outcomes Sought
1. Integrate management of Stuart Park and Stuart Park extension, securing
Recreation Reserve classification for the extension.
2. Protect and preserve the significant archaeological heritage sites.
3. As the reserve has evidence of pre 1900 human activity, an archaeological
authority for any subsurface works will be required from the NZHPT.
4. Safeguard the significant open space landscape values. Restore ecological
values and rare plants, by implementing the Titahi Bay Beach Restoration
Plan where relevant to Stuart Park.
5. Protect natural values for healthy land and stream ecological functioning,
through animal pest and weed control, natural regeneration and restoration
planting.
6. Investigate the barriers to fish movements with waterways and options for
rehabilitation of the stream mouth to improve fish passage.
7. Retain casual recreation opportunities for walking and landscape apprecia-
tion.
8. Continue to provide a Dog Exercise Area, and to allow horse access and
Tasks for next working bee
Contact:
John Hornblow
ph 236 8624 (evenings)
email john@titahi-bay.co.nz

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anyone else.

Website: naturespace.org.nz/sdfadfasdf a
Kids from Pikarere street above Stuart Park when it was
still Pikarere Farm.