Happy New Year!

We hope that you’ve enjoyed the Festive Season with friends and family and you’re looking forward to 2024.

FOBC is also looking forward to 2024 and the list of “things to do” never seems to get any shorter! We rely heavily on our supporters to contribute their time, skills, energy and funds to keep FOBC moving along.

How can you support FOBC in 2024?

There are so many ways that you can support the work of FOBC:

• Join us for planting days and working bees at the Bullock Creek Wetlands. Sign Up here.

• Donate your time and skills for specific FOBC projects. If getting on the end of a shovel is not your thing, do you have other skills you could offer to FOBC? If so, please get in touch.

• Simply be a fan of what we do. Tell your friends and visitors to Wanaka about FOBC and get connected with us on Facebook and/or Instagram.

• Become a Trustee - we will be looking for new people to join the FOBC Trust in 2024. If you have time and skills to offer - send us an email.

• Make a Donation - it's tax deductible! With the move to a new Charitable Trust structure in 2024, we will no longer be requiring membership subscriptions ( individual & family). However, FOBC still needs financial help from supporters to continue its work. Please consider giving Bullock Creek a Christmas present this year with a donation.

To all FOBC Supporters,

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

A big thanks to those of you that have helped in any way during the last 12 months. It is very much appreciated.

As we wind down from another busy year, it is timely to reflect on the significant achievements our small grassroots group has achieved over the last 12 months. All this has been achieved through the dedication and hard work of our volunteers and committee members, who give their time, energy and skills to support the Friends of Bullock Creek objectives:- "to protect, restore and enhance the public amenity and the environment of Bullock Creek from head waters to its entry point into Lake Wanaka, New Zealand."

What we achieved:

• A QEII Covenant registered over the Fish & Game 2.7ha wetland site

• 2313 native plants in the ground

• 765 wetland volunteer hours in 2023 - with over 6700 volunteer hours logged since the restoration project began in 2016

• All Douglas Fir trees removed

• 2 Bee Hives installed

• Major rabbit control measuresA new noticeboard at Stone St entrance.

• Hand watering station

• 100's of committee member hours reviewing, liaising with other community groups, writing & making verbal submissions to local and regional authorities about actions or plans that affect the Bullock Creek environment.

• More committee hours seeking funding from various organisations to continue the work of FOBC into the future.

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

SAVE THE DATE! - 11 November, 2023- 4:30PM

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!!

TOURISTS GIVING BACK

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.

You can help too!

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!