It’s always important to celebrate our achievements and successes – even more so in these uncertain times.

Paul van Klink, of Otago Fish and Game Otago, noted that it’s five years since the restoration work started on the Bullock Creek hatchery springs site. Anyone familiar with what it looked like back then will know just how much has been accomplished – it is literally a transformation, from impenetrable jungle of invasive weeds and pests to stunningly beautiful wetland, wildlife habitat and greenspace amenity.

What better way to celebrate this milestone than with a BBQ and drinks for workers, supporters and neighbours. Hosted by Fish and Game with the support of Friends of Bullock Creek, around 40 people turned up on Wednesday November 3rd for a delightful occasion in absolutely glorious weather.

Paul welcomed everyone to a shady corner of the hatchery springs site where a gazebo, chairs and BBQ had been set up by Paul, Ben Sowry and Klaartje (Claire) Van Schie.

Sausages sizzled, salads glistened and beers flowed as stories were told, friendships and partnerships affirmed and speeches were made.

Paul and Roger Gardiner recounted how the project had started, how many hours invested, plants planted and paid tribute to partners such as Te Kākano and the Department of Corrections. Corrections community workers have been key to the achievements made, contributing hundreds of hours to the clearance, planting and structural work undertaken at the hatchery springs site.

Dave Madden, Senior Work Supervisor from Corrections responded, saying how rewarding the project has been for them and their community workers, giving everyone a real sense of pride and achievement. It was great to see four senior staff members of Corrections at the BBQ, including Southland and Central Otago district manager Glenn Morrison.

Su Anderson, Manager of Wanaka Retirement Village spoke about how important Bullock Creek and the hatchery Springs site is to residents of the village, a green and pleasant haven right on their doorstep. Eleven village residents came along to help us celebrate.

All in all, the BBQ was a great success, a chance to look both back on milestones achieved and forward to the future of Bullock Creek, and the work and challenges that lie ahead. With the spirit of ‘can-do’ and partnership on display, we can be confident that many more milestones will be celebrated.  

A beautiful Day

Paul welcomes all

Roger giving his speech, Dave and Paul

Wanaka Retirement Village Manager Su Anderson speaks to the gathering

BBQ action

Mary Gardiner and Niamh Shaw

  Photo of Spring Colours above our pristine creek               

Dear Members,

The hatchery springs site is looking great now winter’s over, thanks to the renewed clearing and planting by volunteers, Corrections community workers, our site supervisor, Claire Van Schie and our Fish and Game colleagues, Paul van Klink and Ben Sowry.

FOBC has for the past 18 months contracted a paid person to undertake approx. 12 hours of site work each week (for approx. 35 to 40 weeks/ year) and we have been extremely fortunate in finding such talented and committed people in Maggie Domingo and then Claire who took over the job from Maggie earlier this year.

 Three photos of our volunteers

The restoration work has covered approximately 20% of the total 2.5ha area to date - 4880 volunteer hours have been committed to the site and 5000 native plants have been planted. An impressive achievement for which we acknowledge and thank the great support we have received from you with our Thursday planting sessions.

You may have noticed that our four signage boards are now installed and look fantastic – we have had numerous compliments, including from those with professional expertise in providing public information. Congratulations to Helen Howarth and Eddie Spearing. Do take a look –you’ll discover all sorts of fascinating information about Bullock Creek’s history, ecology and geography.

 Four photos of our information boards   

Metal signs highlighting that Bullock Creek is spring fed and a unique ecosystem have been placed at points of interest along the creek, with the intent to raise public awareness of Bullock Creek and to connect the source to the lake.

A photo of a metal sign highlighting Bullock Creek being natural spring water 

Since the AGM in March when we last reported to you, a lot has gone on - despite Covid - and it is well over-due for an update.

Storm Water

On a less happy note, regular visitors to the hatchery springs site may have encountered flooding and the effects of storm water overflow from the “wet/dry pond” directly above Bullock Creek. This is a holding pond for storm water from the Alpha Ridge development and many of you will be aware this is an ongoing and frustrating issue.

Two Photos of residual Flooding

During July/August/September there were no fewer than seven occasions when FOBC observed and recorded storm water overflow onto Fish and Game land, the wetland and into Bullock Creek, three of which resulted in Bullock Creek running extremely high with sediment laden stormwater. We have posted some of the photos and video on our web site and social media and we have reported the infringements to both ORC and QLDC.

As a culmination to our interactions with QLDC, FOBC was invited to a virtual meeting on the 18th August, hosted by the engineering department within QLDC to discuss the stormwater issues and council’s plans to address them. This meeting was attended by three FOBC Committee members and it proved to be informative but left many questions still unanswered. We are continuing to formally ask questions around actual stormwater management for Alpha Ridge and the developments above.

Two of our councillors, Niamh Shaw and Quentin Smith, have been very proactive in supporting FOBC and our concerns around the continual contamination of Bullock Creek with sediment laden stormwater. Quentin was out in the Wetlands at 10.30pm during one flooding event and took excellent video footage which we have posted on our website.

QLDC staff have committed to monthly reports and regular communication with FOBC on what council is doing to resolve the storm water problems from Alpha Ridge and Studholme subdivisions.

Headline points:

Ø  FOBC has been informed of mitigation plans for the storm water issues but we are neither supporting nor opposing the proposed plans as we do not have the expertise to assess the environmental or social implications of such plans. We believe wider community engagement will be required before implementation. FOBC is only one affected stakeholder in this issue.

Ø  FOBC is engaged in an ongoing dialogue with QLDC staff about storm water management, asking for detailed information and seeking a site tour of Alpha Ridge and Studholme subdivisions.

Ø  FOBC is pleased that council is showing more urgency in taking measures to prevent storm water flooding and pollution of Bullock Creek and the wetland.

Ø  FOBC has facilitated QLDC consulting a qualified freshwater ecologist and wetland specialist to review their plan

Ø  FOBC has met with ORC’s Environmental Implementation Manager and Team Leader at the hatchery springs site, provided a guided tour, a detailed record of events over the past four years and background to FOBC’s concerns about storm water pollution.

Ø  QLDC is internally reviewing an engineering plan to provide a solution to the storm water problems

Urban Catchment Plan

FOBC is mindful that Bullock Creek and the wetland do not exist in ecological isolation. FOBC committee representatives and Paul van Klink from Fish and Game Otago, met with WAI Wanaka in July to discuss the wider issues of how to protect Bullock Creek and Lake Wanaka (into which the creek flows) from storm water and pollution from future urban development. We agreed that an Integrated Urban Catchment Management Plan would be an important start to identify environmental and social issues associated with future development in the catchment and which QLDC should have regard to in their consenting protocols. Wai Wanaka has subsequently submitted a professional case for funding to support defining such a Catchment Plan.

Headline points:

Ø  WAI Wanaka has the experience to commission such a study and this will sit within the wider Upper Clutha Integrated Catchment Management Plan. FOBC will provide a supporting role to WAI Wanaka, providing information where we can.

Ø  WAI Wanaka identified a potential funding source and sought support from ORC and QLDC

Ø  FOBC provided background information on Bullock Creek and FOBC goals and achievements, as a supporting grassroots community group.

Ø  WAI Wanaka submitted an application for funding, outcome due in November

Ø  FOBC has recommended to both QLDC and ORC staff that an Urban Integrated Catchment Plan is essential to prevent future storm water pollution and flooding of water bodies in the district, including Bullock Creek.

Future management of Bullock Creek source, wetland and hatchery springs site

The FOBC committee has been considering the future of the site in the context of management, maintenance, protection and future ownership. Being a volunteer driven body, FOBC’s capability is subject to availability and commitment of its volunteers and supporters. Hence FOBC has engaged with Fish and Game Otago to discuss plans and options for future proofing and protecting the work done so far and the long-term protection of the site, now a highly valued community amenity.

Under this future proofing umbrella, we (FOBC) will be looking for new committee members at our AGM in January next year. It is a great committee and realising such positive outcomes since its inception has been so rewarding. Do please contact us if you have a possible interest.

 Two photos of committee members

info@fobc.kiwi

Phone: Roger Gardiner, Secretary – 021 117 7220

Headline points:

Ø  Becoming a committee member would be a great way to support FOBC and our activities.

Ø  Fish and Game’s CEO has welcomed FOBC’s engagement on these issues and asked FOBC to work with Paul van Klink on options to put to Fish and Game council in February 2022

Ø  FOBC has convened a sub-committee to consider and investigate options for discussion.

Thanks again to you all for your ongoing support, moral and financial. Our community spirit is hugely important. We depend on your subscriptions and donations to help fund the supervisor contractor. Please keep up your support, appreciate the beauty of Bullock Creek and remind our elected councillors how important it is to protect and preserve its unique qualities and environment.

Andrew Waterworth

President – Friends of Bullock Creek

Paul & Ben from Fish&Games had picked up 950 natives from Otago Corrections Facility in Milton.

Now they are at the Bullock Creek Hatchery Springs Nursery and will be planted at Bullock Creek and other projects such as Wanaka Catchment Group WaiOra sites in the next 2 months.

We had our first volunteer planting session in the Wetlands today, and what a perfect spring day!!

The trailer hire for bringing the native plants from Milton Corrections Facility to Bullock Creek Hatchery Springs nursery was sponsored by

Meetu & Abhishek Saklani from the Spice Room

 and we thank them for their support.

This is the second time within a week.

After moderate rain, the storm water pond directly above the spring fed headwaters of Bullock Creek overflowed into Fish and Game’s land, through the Wetland and into Bullock Creek.

On both occasions, the storm water was full of silt and sediment and turned the creek a muddy brown. On the 12thAugust, the water was particularly dirty and it appears that could be due to some of the storm water originating from earthworks or development happening above the Alpha subdivision. This is being investigated by QLDC.

The turbidity, sediment or silt in the creek not only discolours the water but also settles onto the gravels which is not good for the trout spawning areas or the overall ecology.

We have uploaded photos and video of the flooding and subsequent damage to the wetlands to our website gallery. This includes edited video from councillor Quentin Smith who visited the site at 10pm on 16th August when the overflow was at its peak –the video is a disturbing record of how just how bad it was.

Coming just five weeks after the last storm water overflow, this repeated contamination of the wetlands and creek is intensely annoying and frustrating.

As before, the two Triton arches (underground storm water retention tanks/sumps installed by the developer at the bottom of the Alpha Series subdivision) were both completely full. Once again, the pump that QLDC put in to transfer excess storm water out of the pond and into the tanks was not operating.

FOBC has taken this up directly with QLDC, seeking answers to what happened, why and what council is doing to provide solutions. This continuing pollution of Wanaka’s iconic spring-fed water way cannot continue.

You can also view and share photos and videos on our Facebook and Instagram pages.

We’ve had a fair amount of rain recently, but it was not a 1:100 year event by a long chalk.

Yet again, the storm water pond serving the Alpha Series subdivision directly above and adjacent to the spring-fed headwaters of Bullock Creek was filled to capacity and overflowed onto Fish and Game land, through the wetland and into Bullock Creek.

We have uploaded some photos of the flooding and subsequent damage to the Wetlands, to our Website Gallery.

You can see in the photos which were taken on Wednesday morning that there is a fair amount of turbidity, sediment or silt in the creek that is both discolouring the water and settling onto the gravels which is not good for the trout spawning areas - and not good for the overall ecology. Note that water in the pond looks brown and muddy and there’s evidence of industrial rubbish.   We don’t know what contaminants might be in the storm water but given the subdivision is full of occupied houses and builders are constructing new homes near the pond, it’s fair to assume the storm water did contain pollutants. The two Triton arches (underground storm water retention tanks/sumps installed by the developer at the bottom of the Alpha Series subdivision) were both completely full. Hence the pump that QLDC put in to transfer excess storm water out of the pond and into the tanks was not operating.

 ORC Environmental officers were on site on Wednesday observing and recording conditions and FOBC has filed a complaint through ORC’s Pollution Hotline, submitting both photos and video evidence.

You can view further photos and our videos on our Facebook and Instagram pages via the link above.

Look out for Friends of Bullock Creek at the Our Place Sustainability site, near the President’s Ring, between Gates 5 and 6. For more about the Our Place sustainability initiative please go to our Facebook page (click here)

In 2019, FOBC was looking for someone to manage the weed-clearing and planting activities at the Hatchery Springs site and to supervise the Dept of Corrections workers on Saturdays. We were lucky enough to find Magali Domingo, a trained agronomist from Argentina.

Maggie, as she likes to be called, joined FOBC in October 2019 and has been a driving force in our management of the hatchery springs project. During her time, FOBC has opened up five new areas, clearing non-native scrub and planting carefully selected native plants. You can see where these areas are on the highlighted site map.

Maggie took on the supervision of Corrections workers with energy and enthusiasm. Over a total of 53 Saturdays, Maggie and her ‘team’ have made huge improvements to the Fish and Game site. 

As Maggie says, “I love that area, it’s like my own garden”.

Now Maggie has to move on to a very different project. She is expecting her first baby in March. While we are sorry to see her go, Maggie will remain involved with FOBC as a committee member. We wish her all the best and look forward to seeing her and Hayden taking Catalina for strolls along the boardwalk. Maggie will also continue with her consultancy work through her company Clever Fox Greens.

Finding a replacement for Maggie has been a challenge. However, we are extremely fortunate to have engaged Claire van Schie, a landscaper who has worked as a Conservation ranger and track builder with Nelmac in Nelson and previously worked with DoC as a trainee ranger on Stewart Island.

Claire has been to the hatchery springs site to see first-hand the work Maggie has been doing, what needs prioritising and how Maggie manages the Corrections team. Maggie has provided a first-class, detailed handover and we look forward to Claire joining FOBC. If you see Claire on site, do say hi and make her feel welcome.

In the lead up to the local body election we placed the following advertisement in the local Wanaka Messenger: