The recent QEII Celebrations has been a great opportunity to remind ourselves how far we’ve come. Registration of a QEII Covenant over the 2.7ha Bullock Creek Wetland required us to establish some photo points from which to measure the changes to the land through the coming years.
Over 6700 hard working volunteer hours (2016 - 2023) have created a unique urban landscape. A place of peace and tranquility right in the heart of the Wanaka township. Now protected in perpetuity.
Blessed with a magnificent Spring Day, over 70 people joined Fish & Game and FoBC to celebrate the protection of the 2.7ha Bullock Creek wetland site under a QEII Covenant.
Speakers on the day were : Ian Hadland Fish & Game, Rob Wardle QEII, Dave Madden Dept.of Corrections and Ben Irving, FoBC President. Rob Wardle’s speech highlighted the significance of achieving a QEII covenant over land in an urban area. Bullock Creek is unique in this regard.
Some interesting statistics about The QEII Trust and QEII Covenants:-
The QEII Trust was established in 1977 at instigation of some farmers wising to protect mostly forest remnants. It is an independent charitable trust that partners with private landowners to protect sites on their land with covenants registered in perpetuity on land titles.
A QEII Covenant is an agreement between The QEII Trust and a landowner to protect land forever. The landowner continues to own and manage the protected land and the covenant and protection stays on the land, even when the property is sold to a new owner.
As at· 2023, almost 70% of NZ is in private ownership. Protecting biodiversity and heritage on private land is critical to reversing the decline of indigenous biodiversity and preserving our history.
Currently, there are 5117 registered Covenants, protecting more than 177,000 ha of private land. Added together would rank QEII Covenants fourth in size with our national parks behind Fiordland, Kahurangi and Mt Aspiring.
Following the speeches, the rest of the afternoon was spent relaxing under the shade trees to enjoy a drink, some delicious nibbles organised by FoBC and good conversation.
EXCITING NEWS!
A QE2 Covenant over the Otago Fish & Game Council owned wetlands of Bullock Creek has been registered on the land title. Look out for the QE2 signs at both ends of the boardwalk. The spring fed wetlands of Bullock Creek are now protected from development in perpetuity.
Thanks to the Otago Fish & Game Council and Paul van Klink wearing his F&G hat, for making this happen.
Essentially the purpose of the QE2 covenant are:
protect and enhance the Wetlands with native flora and fauna,
protect indigenous biodiversity,
restore indigenous vegetation,
protect the source of Bullock Creek for freshwater fish spawning and rearing,
maintain & enhance landscape value and
maintain & enhance the use of the area for public recreation
For those of you who would like to see the full details of the covenant - click here
FOBC, together with the Otago Fish & Game Council and National Trust we will be hosting a celebration of the QE2 Covenant grant with our catchment stakeholders, BC Neighbours and the wider Wanaka Community. The celebration will be held at the Hayshed adjacent the Wetlands commencing at 4:30PM on Saturday 11 November and will be followed by a casual BBQ gathering. Put the date in your diaries NOW!!
FOBC is now part of the Love Wanaka initiative from Lake Wanaka Tourism. Love Wānaka was established so that visitors to our region, and the businesses connecting them, can play an active role in the protection and regeneration of this place.
We have invited Wanaka visitors to join us a for a planting day at the Wetlands. If you meet a new face on a Thursday pass on our passion for the Creek!
Sadly, we are again seeing flooding at the Wetlands and Bullock Creek discoloured with sediment when the sediment ponds from the Alpha Series Development were breached last week.
While the rainfall was significant (88.6mm in 24 hours), our Bullock Creek neighbours will tell you that before the Alpha Series development, even in periods of serious flooding (1999), Bullock Creek did not break its banks nor were the waters discolored.
The Otago Regional Council attended the Wetlands during the downpour to witness the flooding and to take water samples. Representatives from the Wanaka Retirement Village also joined us during our visit.
FOBC will be continuing to pressure QLDC to invest in the critical stormwater infrastructure needed to protect Bullock Creek and Lake Wanaka from inundation and contamination.
In addition to supporting FOBC, don’t forget that you can help by spreading the word about the threats facing Bullock Creek and Lake Wanaka.
Talk about the storm water management problem with your friends and family.
If you connect with us through social media - like and share our posts. Facebook and Instagram
Contact our QLDC Councillors and UC Community Board Members and let them know your concerns and lastly,
submit your views to the various Projects and Consultations on the QLDC Let’s Talk website
The marking of stormwater drains with fish symbols in Wanaka was originally initiated by Touchstone, an organisation concerned to keep the waters of our lakes and streams free from pollution. Check out their website for further information.
Paul van Klink, wearing both his Friends of Bullock Creek and Fish and Game hats is keen to continue the Touchstone project in the Bullock Creek catchment. Together with help from Chris Arbuckle from Touchstone who had the metal fish & bird silhouettes manufactured, the Wanaka Community Workshop who helped Paul with a drill press and Wai Wanaka who have assisted with the production of an “Adopt a Drain” leaflet, Paul will be working his way downstream to engage Bullock Creek neighbours in the FOBC project and to raise awareness of the importance of keeping pollution out of Wanaka stormwater drains. Hopefully the permanent labels on the street drains will be a reminder to everyone that all the water that enters the stormwater drains in Wanaka ends up in either Bullock Creek , other creeks and then Lake Wanaka.....so it’s in everyone’s interest to keep drains free of pollutants as much as possible.
The FOBC Fish on Drains project kicked off on Wednesday evening 30 Aug around 5 pm in Stone St adjacent the Wetlands. It was great to meet and chat with our BC neighbours along the way. During September & October we will be continue our journey downstream to Tenby Streets, Redwood Lane and Sycamore Place.
The Pines Resort on Dungarvan St - a Bullock Creek Neighbour
We recently touched base with Lynley and Maurice Chave who are the managers of the Pines Resort in Dungarvan St. They have been managing the Pines and the Edgewater Club for over 30 years now. Talking with Lynley it was so exciting to hear how much she and Maurice love Bullock Creek and how they share that enthusiasm with their resort guests who visit Wanaka from every corner of the globe.
We will back to Lynley for some more BC stories when the winter tourism calms down and they have time for a cuppa and a chat. In the meantime, Lynley reminded us about a great video that was produced for the NZ Life & Leisure magazine in 2017 (before the FOBC formed). Filmed by Brian High, it’s really a beautiful reminder what FOBC is striving to protect for the future. To view the film - click here.
At the end of July, the Otago Catchment Community hosted a get together of the many and varied catchment groups from our region. Held on a chilly winter’s day in the Maniototo, it was a fantastic opportunity to meet the people working in this environmental space.
Nancy Latham and Andy Oxley attended from FOBC. Despite being one of the few catchment groups from an urban area, there was still plenty of learning and connections made. Attending the forum was a myriad of volunteer catchment groups and professional organisations: ORC, Otago Landcare Trust, Fish & Game, Beef & Lamb NZ and MPI. Attending with us from Wanaka, were the Wanaka Catchment Group and Wai Wanaka.
But we will confess that following a serious morning of information sharing, the afternoon curling lesson confirmed that Nancy & Andy should not try out for the next winter olympics!
Spring is knocking on the door! The Tui’s are calling.
Planting work at the Wetlands continues apace with Paul van Klink organising for the arrival of more native plants. And of course as the ground warms up, there will be a fair bit of weed action too! We’ve taken delivery of some good mulch, but it’s still a bit green/hot and we’ll have to wait until Autumn next year before we use it.
With the longer days Paul is likely to return to two sessions each Thursday - 10AM - Noon and 2 - 4PM. Keep your eyes on our noticeboard, facebook/instagram page or sign up for our Thursday group emails for updates.
If you’ve got a spare couple of hours on a Thursday and you’d like to help out, get in touch with either Paul (021 056 9146) or Andy (021 107 5520).
The marking of stormwater drains with a “Fish” in and around Wanaka was originally an initiative of Chris Arbuckle from Touchstone to heighten public awareness of where our “waste water” ends up! Since then Wai Wanaka has been working with various community groups around the Upper Clutha for their Adopt a Drain project. Our friends from Wai Wanaka have produced a neat brochure explaining the importance of stormwater drains being for rainwater only and will be attending with FOBC during our marking of stormwater drains.
As part of our Bullock Creek Neighbours project, our personal meet and greet will commence this week (30 Aug) in Stone St, immediately adjacent the wetlands and we’ll slowly be working our way downstream during the spring and summer months. We are proposing to pop-in to see our BC neighbours, early evening between 5 - 6pm. Please feel free to come out and see us putting a fish on your street drains and have a chat with us.
