Queen Elizabeth Park's northeast to go from gorse-stricken to native paradise

Thursday, 16 November 2017

Greater Wellington Regional Council parks manager Amanda Cox with Maclean Trust trustees Chris Maclean and son Sam at Queen Elizabeth Park, with the Kāpiti expressway in the background.

A gorse-strewn strip of Queen Elizabeth Park, alongside the Kāpiti expressway, is to be transformed thanks to a family trust's $300,000 donation.

The 25-hectare strip of land on the western side of the expressway between Raumati and MacKays Crossing will be cleared of weeds, particularly gorse and blackberry, and extensively replanted with native species including kanuka, manuka and forest species.

The 25-hectare strip in the northeast of the park will be cleared of gorse and blackberry, and replanted with native species including kanuka, manuka and forest species.

The project had been made possible by a $300,000 donation from the Maclean Trust to Greater Wellington Regional Council.

Trustee Chris Maclean, a historian and author, said he and son Sam had been looking for an ecological project to support 'in a constructive and meaningful way'.

'We hope to create a thriving habitat for native plants and animals, to help return the area to its past glory,' Chris Maclean says.

* Paekakariki remembers former US Marines at Queen Elizabeth Park**

'We hope to create a thriving habitat for native plants and animals, to help return the area to its past glory. In pre-European times, wetlands extended from Paekākāriki to the Manawatu River.'

Chris Maclean said his late parents Joe and Joan formed the trust in 1970, initially to support humanitarian causes.

'We live at Waikanae Beach and are very fond of the district, and for some time had been looking for a major ecological project in Kāpiti to support.'

He said the inspiration for the Queen Elizabeth Park project came from longtime friend and Paekākāriki artist Alan Wehipeihana, after they had cycled through the area.

The site is part of the Whareroa Steam catchment, but comprised mainly of peat and relatively unproductive.

Weed control would start before this Christmas to prepare the area for restoration planting from next July.

As well as habitat restoration, recreational access to the area would be improved, including a new cycling and walking track linking with the popular Te Ara O Whareroa trail in the park, as well as connecting to the shared pathways along the new expressway.

Regional council parks manager Amanda Cox said maintaining the flow of water throughout the area would be important for native species to thrive.

'We will need specialist hydrology advice to manage the water that drains from SH1 into the park, ideally filtering it through native vegetation before it enters the park's streams. Clean water is vital to healthy environments.

'Combined with other stream retirement works in the Whareroa Stream catchment, careful management of our water resources will also improve mahinga kai.'

Council chairman Chris Laidlaw said the Maclean Trust's 'very generous' donation was also an example of local environmental and community-minded vision for the park, which he described as the region's 'jewel in the crown'.

'Support such as that provided by the Maclean Trust really does show that this is a people's park.

'With local financial assistance, local planting and restoration, governed by local and regional representatives, Queen Elizabeth Park has been embraced by the people of Kāpiti.'