Help Help Help! They want to get rid of our swamp

[twinkles]

never heard any or seen any signs.

Wrote a list of all the birds we've noticed though,

tui

ruru

faintails

titipounamu

kingfishers

kereru

the fans, tui and ruru nest there too, don't know about the others.

No doubt there's heaps more birds too who have escaped our notice.

[twinkles]

right, read through this people and tell me whats wrong with it, grammer and spelling, parts that sound wrong etc. May remove the mention of mudfish. Then when its good i'm printing it and taking it round the rest of the neighbours, maraes, local council etc to try and gather some support.

Behind a row of houses on Tumoana St lies an oft ignored and disregarded piece of land. Nestled between the stopbank and the river, this little strip boasts an amazing array of native plants and animals, with many mature trees, three small wetlands, and an ever-growing area of bush regenerating to its former glory.

Nesting in the trees are Tui, Ruru and Fantails to name a few, and a pair of Titipounamu are frequently spotted spiraling around the tree trunks. The wetlands are home to several species of Galaxied (mature whitebait) and is a perfect habitat for the threatened mudfish. Several large nikau and cabbage trees are the dominating feature of the forest, in summer attracting a flock of Keruru with their sprays of berries.

Why are wetlands and low lying bush important?

Over the last 150 years, the Horizons region has lost 97% of its swamps and wetlands. As well as supporting the most diverse natural life of any native habitat, wetlands play a major role in flood protection. Heavy rainfall falling onto wetlands and bush seeps slowly through the leaf litter and into the ground, lessening the amount of water flowing straight into the river. Rainfall on a grassy paddock runs into the river immediately, rapidly increasing its flow rate and causing the danger of flash flooding downstream.

Why do we need to tell you all this?

Starting in the next few weeks, Horizons Regional Council has plans to remove every piece of vegetation in this area, fill in the wetlands and raise the level of the ground 50cm. If they go ahead with this proposal it will mean an end to the plethora of native birds that brighten the local gardens, certain death for the fish, most of which are threatened species, and an increase in the amount of water which floods the Whanganui river in heavy rains.

What We Propose

Two months ago, a representative from Horizons visited the owners of two small areas of this land, and the primary school whose property borders one side of it. The ideas outlined by one land owner and agreed to by the representative were to preserve and protect the swamp areas and native forest, while removing the introduced trees (mostly large poplar, willow and japanese walnut). The stopbank would be cleared of all vegetation (currently smothered with walnut, blackberry and a small amount of flax), as the trees growing off it pose the risk of tearing loose a section of bank in major flooding. The area would then be utilized and maintained by the school, who would mow the grass, keep the stopbank clear of growth, and use the area for studies on our native habitats, flora and fauna.

This sounded like a brilliant proposal and the group of local residents who use the area most were excited to see how it progressed. However, when two months had passed without the promised return visit by Horizons to update us on their progress, we became concerned and contacted the council to find out what was going on. It was at this stage we were told of their new plan, due to start in just a few weeks. Now the fight is on, with a quickly growing group of concerned residents outraged at what is planned and determined to save this precious spot.

[Stella]

right, read through this people and tell me whats wrong with it, grammer[grammar ;P]

Behind a row of houses on Tumoana St lies an oft(delete) ignored and disregarded piece of land. Nestled between the stopbank and the river, this little strip boasts three small wetlands with (moved) an amazing array of native plants and animals, with(delete) many mature trees, and an ever-growing area of (delete, they might think it is invading!)bush regenerating to its former glory.

Nesting in the trees are Tui, Ruru and Fantails to name a few, and a pair of Titipounamu (I can't remember this one..., can you put English names in brackets for us philistines? Name as many native birds present as you have seen) are frequently spotted spiraling around the tree trunks. The wetlands are home to several species of Galaxied Galaxiid(mature whitebait) and is a perfect habitat for the threatened mudfish (yes, but out of their natual range, so I don't think it counts). Several large nikau and cabbage trees are the dominating feature of the forest, in summer attracting a flock of Keruru with their sprays of berries.

Why are wetlands and low lying bush important?

Over the last 150 years, the Horizons region has lost 97% of its swamps and wetlands(you should reference this). As well as supporting the most diverse natural life of any native habitat(reference), wetlands play a major role in flood protection. Heavy rainfall falling onto wetlands and bush seeps slowly through the leaf litter and into the ground, lessening the amount of water flowing straight into the river. Rainfall on a grassy paddock runs into the river immediately, carrying topsoil and rapidly increasing its flow rate and causing the danger of flash flooding downstream.

Why do we need to tell you all this?

Starting in the next few weeks, Horizons Regional Council has plans to remove every piece of vegetation in this area, fill in the wetlands and raise the level of the ground by 50cm. If they go ahead with this proposal it will mean an end to the plethora of native birds that brighten the local gardens, certain death for the fish, most of which are threatened species(I would only include this when you have identified what species are present), and an increase in the amount of water which floods the Whanganui river in heavy rains.

What We Propose

Two months ago, a representative from Horizons visited the owners of two small areas of this land, and the primary school whose property borders one side of it. The ideas outlined by one land owner and agreed to by the Horizonsrepresentative were to preserve and protect the swamp areas and native forest, while removing the introduced trees (mostly large poplar, willow and Japanese walnut). The stopbank would be cleared of all vegetation (currently smothered with walnut, blackberry and a small amount of nativeflax), as the trees growing offon it pose the risk of tearing loose a section of bank in major flooding. The area would then be utilized and maintained by the school, who would mow the grass, keep the stopbank clear of growth, and use the area for studies on our native habitats, flora and fauna.

This sounded like a brilliant proposal and the group of local residents who use the area most were excited to see how it progressed. However, when two months had passed without the promised return visit by Horizons to update us on their progress, we became concerned and contacted the council to find out what was going on. It was at this stage we were told of their new plan, due to start in just a few weeks. Now the fight is on, with a quickly growing group of concerned residents outraged at what is planned and determined to save this precious spot.

Good one

[livingart]

[Carlos & Siran]

Looks good to me, good luck :bounce:

[twinkles]

great proofing Stella, just what i needed thanks

Will go and make those changes. Titipounamu = rifleman.

All statistics/statements to be referenced are straight from the Horizons website, i thought that was the best way to stop them questioning them. Have also added a second page - see next post - which is copied from the Horizons regional plan on preserving wetlands (how contradictory is that).

Thought i might add another page or two with a complete (as much as i can anyway) list of the native plants, birds, insects, fish etc and a few pics of them. Am meeting with the mayor tomorrow so want to have as much stuff ready as possible and looking tidy and factual.

[twinkles]

page two is

Summary Of Wetland Values

Biodiversity and natural heritage

- Estuaries and lakes are preferred habitat for many migratory

and native bird species. Wetlands can have specifically

adapted plants and animals that are not found in dry land

ecosystems.

Maori cultural heritage - Wetlands provide an important link in the history and culture of

many hapu. The plants that grow in wetlands provided clothing,

mats, and were a source of medicine, food, and dye. Wetland

animals, particularly tuna (eels) were valuable foods.

Fisheries - A number of harvested fish spend some of their lifecycle in

swamps, ponds, and estuaries.

Recreation - Hunters, anglers, boaties, and tourists spend much time and

money on active or passive recreational activities in wetlands

and wet places.

Water quality - Wetlands are vital to cleansing water by trapping sediment and capturing nutrient from water that flows through them.

Flood mitigation - By soaking up and storing water, wetlands mitigate flooding and moderate water flows off the land and into the rivers. Water

stored in wetlands is released slowly, which helps maintain

water flows between rainfall events.

Shoreline and bank protection

- Vegetated wetland margins on lakes, rivers and estuaries

absorb the energy of waves and water currents. Unprotected

shorelines and banks erode faster than those that are protected

by marshes and swamps.

Carbon Storage - Wetlands store carbon in the form of living material (plants) and preserved plant material (peat). Wetland drainage releases this

carbon as carbon dioxide. On a global scale, wetland

destruction is believed to contribute to the Greenhouse Effect.

with the details of the report it comes from at the top.

[whetu]

Excellent piece of work, Twinkles (and great proofing, Stella).

My suggestion would be to put the really important stuff in one short paragraph at the beginning and assume that 80% of people will only read that paragraph! So something like:

"The wetlands at [location] are threatened with removal by the council. Please join us in our attempt to save this important natural feature."

Not exactly that wording, but just something that summarises what's going on without them needing to read through the rest of it.

Also it would be good if you could put all your lovely prose in a covering letter format that takes no more than one side of an A4 page, then all the rest of it as supplementary info attached to the back, and with your photos too if you can! (Of the people who do read past the first paragraph, the vast majority will only read the front page then flick through the rest of the detail without reading it.)

[twinkles]

that first part is one page, the second part is page two. Its mostly for the people that ask lots of questions and want a decent amount of info, like the mayor is bound to *gulp*. Neighbours, locals etc are just spreading the word between themselves, and we've got a good bunch of people on the street who are home 24/7 and ready to race over and block the contractors if they suddenly show up early 8)

Since horizons is promoting it as 'flood protection work' i figured i needed something proper-sounding to hand out to anyone thats not sure about which way to lean.

People already have ideas for stage 2, once we get this sorted out - to fix the rest of this part of the river edge. There's a big long strip which was a paddock with willows and poplars along the water, and they cleared all the trees a month ago. Now its a paddock and a mountain of mud next to the river. Everyones been raging on about how the cows need to go and some bush needs to be planted instead, and some river edge plants by the river, but all they've done is moan about it over beer, now people are getting keen to try and do it once we sort this part :bounce:

Surely the regional council should be setting a good example, instead of putting stock in the waterways and leaving the edges bare of vegetation.

[twinkles]

time for an update...

spoke to the boss of the guy we've been dealing with at horizons on friday, thought it was worth giving him a ring to see if he had any idea what was going on. And not suprisingly he had no idea that there was a wetland and native trees there, and no idea that his subordiling had ignored the communities wishes. So he's supposed to be getting back to me this week to let me know where he stands and if they'll be backtracking on their desicions to take another look at things.

Meantime i finally got some kid-free time today :bounce:

so i went for a good look to see what else i could see.

Found a pair of grey ducks in the smaller hidden pond

They hid when they saw me so i didn't go closer, but saw they had an egg on the edge of the pond, just lying on the ground, i gather that means they don't want it or its a dud or something? Don't know if they might have had a proper nest there somewhere.

Also found some daphnia yah! In 'our' swamp, there was heaps of it, and loads of other little bugs and things that weren't there a week ago. Saw one little thing that looked like a diving beetle? About 3mm at most, black and beetle shaped, and it swam down into the algae when i looked at it. Bought a cup of water home, it has about 10 daphnia in it.

[Stella]

Oh wow, that sounds potentially positive!!

[twinkles]

here's mr or mrs ducky

and yes, her head is behind the tree and reflected in the water, she's not a mutant lol

and aren't mossy old logs beautiful?

[SamH]

You forgot this guy:

(http://blogs.mysanantonio.com/weblogs/t ... s/2008/03/)

:lol: :lol:

[twinkles]

lol

need to find me one of them to protect our swamp

[SamH]

Just get covered in algae and get a pot belly, that'll fool them!

[twinkles]

plenty of that slimy stringy algae in the swamp now, i'll just take to lying in it drinking beer and i'll look like an ogre in no time! Now lets see the contractors mess with me 8)

[twinkles]

just spoken to 'the man' at horizons, he's coming to meet with us all next wednesday.

so that gives us a week to put into a plan exactly what we want, and how it can fit in with what they want.

To start with, here's the aerial map of it

the long white line along the top is the stopbank, about 3 metres high, to stop floods getting past.

the white line down from that is the fence line, between the wetlands and bush and the paddocks on the other side. Red is the trees that need to go, green is the natives, blue is the water.

[twinkles]

Now from their point of view, the problems are

1) there are some walnut trees and things growing on the stopbank, which need to go - we have no issue with that of course

2)the area in the far left bottom, going along further out of view, needs some new big rocks added to the existing pile to help contain the river. They want to build a temporary road in from the council land (far right) to bring a truck in to dump the rocks. There is existing almost complete and clear road acces from the right, straight off the street, we want them to use this.

3) (and this is the main sticking point) - they want every peice of vegetation in sight cleared, the land in the middle section raised 1/2 metre average, and it turned into a paddock. Their reasons for this are that if the river floods, trees and things will be washed down river, lodge in the bush, then redirect the water flows into the stopbank, which might collapse part of it. It the stopbank gives in there the river will go straight through my house :-?

The stopbank was built after the river did exactly that in the 50's, apparently it was as high as the window frames on the houses across the road lol.

Anyway, the best solution i can think of, would be if they built a fence say from the top right edge of the bank, to the bottom middle edge of the existing fence, to try and direct trees etc back into the river. Do we have any experts (or good google people) who can offer any other ways around it, or any examples of something like my idea being used?

[Cricketman]

the whole "direct water into the stopbank and collapse part of it" seems a bit of codwallop to me...

if anything, the trees and vegetation that are there should slow the water in that part and therefore eleviate pressure on teh stopbank, a bare stop-bank would have to bear the brunt of the water straight onto it! there is no reason that the trees being there would increase flood damage, if anything, it would make for a quicker clean-up too! if they are that desperate, they should look at re-inforcing the stopbank, it would be alot less money than scrub-clearing! and at the end of the day everyone is happy. a paddock wont do anything to stop a break in the stopbank.

[Cricketman]

look at this reasearch

http://www.forestry.gov.uk/fr/INFD-7CEC75

its exactly what im talking about, but they also add the tasty effect that just having a leaf canopy can retain water on, in and around the leaves! they say between 10-15% on the pessimist side! so instead of clearing trees, they should be re-planting! and planting further up river too! put that to them!!

I love this stuff 8) :lol:

[phoenix44]

does the swamp increase your land value or decrease it?

will the removal of said swamp adversely affect adjacent property prices?

[Cricketman]

wouldnt matter, if twinkles neighbors are keen to keep it

Everyones been raging on about how the cows need to go and some bush needs to be planted instead, and some river edge plants by the river, but all they've done is moan about it over beer, now people are getting keen to try and do it once we sort this par

thier property prices wouldnt move much at all. they are not losing anything by letting the swamp be, and its on the other side of a stopbank, out of sight, so you cant argue aesthetics, though for many people i imagine having a nice swamp with birds in it would be a good thing!

[twinkles]

It could be said to decrease the prices if the birds were gone i guess, but houses are so darn cheap here anyway i doubt it would be taken into effect.

Finally got a call back from the person at doc today, and she was brilliant, sounds like they'll be diving in to help as much as they can. First thing she's doing is going through the maori land court records today, to see if the 'un-owned' sections may have been handed back as customary land, no one had thought of that. If that is the case that'll be the end of the councils plans in one swoop, i like to seem them get up the guts to mess with that

The other idea is that they may have been handed back to the crown as reserve land, but this is less likely, and if it is the case there's a possibility that the local iwi could announce they're putting in a claim on it as land that should have been returned to them.

So looking good

[Scottie841]

I dont think the iwi would be able to make a new claim in it unless they can link it back to something important

[twinkles]

probably not, but they can say that they are and the area is in dispute, which would through a spanner in the works for the council.