Scottie841 Posted September 9, 2009 Report Share Posted September 9, 2009 I was meaning that I think the need to provide definitive proof before it can be disputed and by then it would unfortunately be all over. You best bet I think would be to plant some protected trees in there because then they need to be able to get consent from DOC before they can do anything Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twinkles Posted September 9, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 9, 2009 what sort of trees are protected? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carlos & Siran Posted September 9, 2009 Report Share Posted September 9, 2009 I'm not entirely sure that planting a tree in there would make much difference, other wise anyone who didn't want a piece of land developed could just plant a Kauri there and that'd be the end of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twinkles Posted September 9, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 9, 2009 i don't think a kauri would grow there anyway, all the trees are the sort that are suited to the low swampy land - cabbage, nikau, flax and ferns etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twinkles Posted September 10, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 10, 2009 good news just been and spoken to people from the marae, turns out they have their own organisation and office in town for exactly this sort of thing. They've just finished a battle with horizons over another issue, and won of course, and are ready to tear into this :bounce: They were as outraged as we are about horizons plans, and have battled them over lots of similar sites before. So we're sorted now i think. The woman in charge of river and river edge management is ringing me soon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted September 10, 2009 Report Share Posted September 10, 2009 i don't think a kauri would grow there anyway, all the trees are the sort that are suited to the low swampy land - cabbage, nikau, flax and ferns etc. all my kauris are growing in wet places wetlands is a better name than swamp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twinkles Posted September 11, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 11, 2009 yeah i'm calling it a wetlands to everyone else now, it does sound more attractive. Just found a lovely list on the horizons planning guildlines of what trees should be planted there, and further along the river where its mud - totora, cabbage trees, flax, tea tree etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bronze-dragon Posted September 11, 2009 Report Share Posted September 11, 2009 dont forget the kowhai (spelling?) to attract the tuis and puriri and nikau to attract the kereru. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twinkles Posted September 11, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 11, 2009 yup nikau and kowhai were on the list too. The woman as DOC has just rung back, she'd pulled up all the records on the other blocks of land involved, and there's no clear ownership. Sound as though it was surveyed by the crown and allocated block numbers, but never formally owned by anyone except the iwi who owned it before that. So there's a good case for them to lay claim to it. It also went into the river at some stage, and is now built up again, so it could legally be considered river bed too. She also confirmed our suspicions over our rights on our part of the land, that they can't just come along and tear trees down when we've said we don't want them too. They need to get a special resource consent to work on it against our wishes, and there are public notification rules that haven't been met either. So all looking good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twinkles Posted September 11, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 11, 2009 Oh and she's also passed all the details on to the horizons environmental head person so he can look into it too. Apparently he doesn't get on with the river engineers, why am i not suprised lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whetu Posted September 11, 2009 Report Share Posted September 11, 2009 Congrats twinkles! You sound like you're talking to all the right people and making good progress! Well done! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darkfur Posted September 11, 2009 Report Share Posted September 11, 2009 big story on the front page of the Dom Post about some farmer who trashed a wetland, and lots of stuff about how precious wetlands are Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twinkles Posted September 11, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 11, 2009 yep i was reading that online earlier, it set my partner off ranting again about how much our council sucks compared to every other one :roll: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twinkles Posted September 15, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 15, 2009 good news today just sat down to go over things with the iwi person who deals with river stuff, she's gonna be brilliant. The 'unowned' land is going through a claim in the maori land court already, for being taken illegally all those years ago :bounce: She knows the land and the wetlands well, grew up playing there, and has clashed with the horizons man we are dealing with many times and won. She's stoked to have the support of everyone on the street to help out too. Meeting tomorrow afternoon, horizons man is coming to 'clear up the neighbours concerns', poor guy wont know whats hit him with a whole community of objecters waiting to have their say lol. Will let you all know how it goes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella Posted September 15, 2009 Report Share Posted September 15, 2009 awesome Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted September 15, 2009 Report Share Posted September 15, 2009 don't forget to mention you pay the councils wages Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nymox Posted September 15, 2009 Report Share Posted September 15, 2009 Thats great news Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twinkles Posted September 16, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 16, 2009 well it went ok our main talking person, from the iwi group thing, never showed apparently she'd had to race off to a tangi so we had 10 half drunk raving maori neighbours with a guitar, me and my family, and the couple from across the road who look like bushmen. It was lol :lol: for the first while it went the same way as most meetings do when everyone has a different veiwpoint and wants to have a say - a hole bunch of people raving about different things and shouting over the music. Me who hates any public talking had to try and guide things in the right direction, and we got there eventually. He contradicted himself a million times in response to direct questions, he said twice that they were going to fill in the swamps and raise the ground level, and also said twice that they weren't going to do that at all, but dig big drainage ditches in to drain them. Eventually we managed to get him to agree to look at making a concesion, where the area between the bush/swamp and the river would be cleared (all pest trees) then replanted with flax and toitoi. The bush and swamp would then have the poplars removed, and some trees 'may be able to remain', but he wasn't willing to give any firm statements on what he'd even investigate as an option. It was agreed at the end that he'd come back early next week, and go over the area with us, using the old electric taping thats over there to mark out the area we definatly don't want cleared, so he can get a better idea of it. We'll be doing that this week so we've got it marked properly before he shows up At least its a step in the right direction, and we know now no contractors are going to show up for a few weeks yet. Will be making sure that the no-show people are here early next week too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aucklandfishtanks Posted September 16, 2009 Report Share Posted September 16, 2009 set traps for native mudfish,if you find some it may help you out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella Posted September 16, 2009 Report Share Posted September 16, 2009 wow, sounds stressful! I am sure the half-drunk ravers really helped things.... Any luck with help from DOC? An article from today on someone being charged with draining a wetland on his property without resource consent: http://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/2853354/Wairarapa-landowner-destroyed-protected-wetlands Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twinkles Posted September 16, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 16, 2009 they were good in a way, cause they did show that there's a whole street of people (and homeowners) who are angry they haven't been consulted, and are against all their plans rather vocally. Doc just said to talk to the iwi person who didn't make it today, and let them know how we get on once horizons has finished talking to us. Set a trap a few times for fish, but haven't caught anything, and don't like to set it when i'm not sure i can get back over there to check it fairly quickly. Saw the grey ducks again today, they look like they're building a nest there. Its so sad, our family of (native) paradise ducks were shot last season, all 10 of them, and that one pair of greys are the only native ducks left on this part of the river. There's just mallards otherwise. Yes i read that article, it peed me off, everywhere else in the country is protecting their rivers and wetlands, while ours removes them and grazes cows in the river :evil: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twinkles Posted September 18, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 18, 2009 i've given up on getting any help from the iwi group, they still haven't got back to us. been searching all morning for any examples of using trees to protect stopbanks, and finally found the right terms to put into google for what i wanted seems every other council in the country uses a system like this to protect their stopbanks from washing away - the page i found that pic on also had some good information on native plants to use in each zone, flax, cabbage trees, manuka, totora etc. also spent ages searching for anything to back up the engineers claims about why all the vegetation must go - he says having vegetation and trees between the river and stopbank will mean that in a flood event trees and logs coming downstream will be grabbed and turned by the trees, then flung into the stopbank like battering rams to bash through it. He seemed to delight in trying to scare the neighbours with his image of a giant log smashing a hole in the bank and our houses washing away. So i searched and searched for any information on this, but couldn't find a single scrap of anything. I didn't think it made logical sense What i did find was loads of info about when stopbanks have failed in the past, everytime due to water flowing underneath and tunneling them out from the bottom. And every council document i could find on the subject detailed their plans for heavy plantings next to the stopbanks to create an area of slow water flow, rather than the raging torrent a grassy paddock would become. What started out as wanting to save our swamp has begun to include saving our houses, i dread to think what would happen in a major flood with nothing but grass next to the stopbank. So now i think the best move is to try and compile all the reports from other councils, and take it to the local council and maybe someone higher up at horizons, questioning why they are taking the opposite aproach to every other river in the country. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted September 18, 2009 Report Share Posted September 18, 2009 You are obviously doing a lot of work with this. Well done!!! :bounce: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zev Posted September 18, 2009 Report Share Posted September 18, 2009 Dare I say, it's starting to sound like she has enough info for an article for the AW magazine, Caryl? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted September 18, 2009 Report Share Posted September 18, 2009 I did not like to suggest such a thing while she was in the middle of her research and fight but perhaps afterwards, once she has been successful... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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