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Keeping you in the loop

Neighbours helping neighbours in South Titirangi 

Happening soon 

 

Kick Start Working Bees for Private Land

Five Kick Start Working Bees on private land have been confirmed for the second half of 2020. The first one is on Saturday 26 July, on a private property.  Get dates and register here
 

Next Predator Pulse

The first Predator Pulse starts one day later on Sunday 27 July. To take part, contact Bruce 021 256 2458 (if your west of the Zig Zag) or
Tony 021 281 7552 (if your east of Zig Zag)
to find out who your closest street contact is.
STNN street contacts supply bait and friendly advice. 

To find out about more upcoming events  visit
www.southtitirangi.org.nz 

 

News from the network 

 

Changing of the guard

Congratulations to Bruce Inwood, Kate Anson and Clair Hobi who have stepped up as co-chairs of STNN's quaterly Hub Meetings. A big thank you to Rhyll Stafford who served as chair since stepping down as Gecko Facilitator 18 months ago. 

 

Welcome Chris

Many thanks to Chris Lane who has offered to keep our Facebook page flowing with new content! If you have news you'd like to share in the newsletter or on Facebook, please submit it using this form. We'll make sure it gets to the right person. 
 

Donations welcomed

We are aware that some people would like to support our work, but can't get along to working bees. Donations for restoration and engagement projects are welcomed. STNN's bank account number is Kiwi Bank 38 9018 0076960 00. Just let us know if you need a receipt. 


 
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Wonderful working bee in Woontons Lane

An old farm track gets the full neighbourly treatment 

Woontons Lane, named after Captain Woonton who came out from the Channel Islands in 1878, was originally a farm track. It is a key access point to Davies Bay. Once a holiday area with many holiday baches, today it is a diverse community and the farmland has regenerated to forest, along with many flourishing invasive weeds. 

To tackle the weed problem, the Woontons Lane Community came out in force for a working bee in June. Nearly 20 neighbours worked together, armed with spades and rubbish bags, to clear ginger and other weeds along the reserve that the Lane traverses. As well as clearing a huge amount of weeds and filling the 12m3 bin, about 5 rubbish bags were collected with some interesting discoveries (including a couple of old engines and some very old beer bottles). Many children really enjoyed the day and would have kept going if they could!

Thanks to Ecomatters and the Waitākere Local Board for making a grant available for the bin. And thanks to STNN for creating the neighbourly network we can all contribute to. Next step for this neighbourhood is training in Kauri Dieback Prevention. 

Moth Plant Mission

Council and neighbours team up on Tanekaha Road 

Sadly this highly invasive vine has been spreading on Tanekaha Rd.  

Thanks to neighbourly chats during the Covid LockDown, Ruairi  (our Council Biodiversity Advisor) and Matt Bloxam ( Tanekaha neighbour and Council Ecologist) were able to take out a significant infestation. 
 
All invasive vines are destructive, but Moth Plant spreads and smothers the bush very fast. One pod can release up to 1000 potential seedlings. 
 
Auckland Council takes Moth Plant very seriously, and wants to make sure it never gets a hold in the Waitakere Ranges. If you have any on your property, or see any please contact Ruariri urgently on 021 813 837. 
 

Trapping for Bird Sanctuary

STNN provides advice and encouragement

Many of you will be aware of the great work done by the NZ Bird Rescue Charitable Trust in Green Bay. 

Recently they reached out with us for assistance with pest control. Tony and Bruce visited to talk about STNN's experience with pest control.

Dr Lynn Miller leads an experienced, enthusiastic group of volunteers that wish to extend their pest control down to the coastline. In the long term creating a safe breeding zone for Petrels and Penguins - which ties into  our existing work in neighbouring coastal fringes.
They have extensive plans to expand the hospital, intensive care unit and aviaries to include Harrier and Ruru flight enclosures and a seabird pool.

We look forward to helping them in any way we can.

Kick-started already! 

First kick-start working bee held on private land 

After the Covid-19 delay, the team completed our first Kick Start visit weeding private land on Sunday 21stJune, despite inauspicious winter weather.
 
Kazim Kachwala (pictured with Clair Hobi) and his family recently moved to 602 South Titirangi Road, a half-acre property running alongside the Mahoe track down to Mahoe Road. Full credit to the Kachwala family for getting into much-needed weeding straight away! STNN's kick contribution  was identifying the weeds, providing weed bags, cutnpaste and best practice for preventing Kauri Die Back, as well as demonstrating the best method for dealing with each weed.
 
Kazim will pass on the good will, by joining our next Kick Start weeding bee in his neighbourhood on Sunday 26th July. Use the link at the top of this newsletter if you want to register. 

If the world around us is healthy...

Telling our story: a partnership with Fringe Magazine and our Local Board

You may have seen some of these illustrations in our much loved local, Fringe Magazine. Fringe Magazine is kindly helping us tell our story - our vision for a pest and weed free South Titirangi, the meaning of the Waitākere Ranges Heritage Act, and the actions that we can take. If you don't catch the magazine, the content is published on our website here. The illustrations were created by local artist Mal White and were funded by the Waitākere Ranges Local Board earlier in the year. You can also check them out, along with resource guides. on our website

Our Auckland Council heroes

Making the impossible possible 

STNN wouldn’t be able to do the work we do; supplying neighbours with weed bags, cut n paste, pest traps and bait, if it wasn’t for the support of Auckland Council and our local board.
 
Ruairi Flynn (pictured on the right with STNN's Kick Start Co-ordinator Sandra Gorter) is Auckland Council’s Biosecurity Conservation advisor. He is an on the ground hands-on person for South Titirangi neighbourhoods,  inspecting problem areas, giving Bio- Security advice at meetings and workshops, engaging contractors to do large scale work outside our scope, and delivering supplies requests. He is a great supporter of all weeding activity in the Waitakere Ranges and connects with over 70 groups with similar goals to STNN.
 
Heads up too, to local board member Greg Presland and the team at Auckland Council’s Waitakere Ranges Local Board who are long-time supporters of STNN’s pest control activities, and have been funding our supplies for many years now.
 

In Brief

Finding it hard to locate a weed bin? Auckland Council is generally preferring weed bags instead of bins.

Weed bags are cost efficient, and most importantly, composting on site is essential to prevent the spread of Kauri Die Back. We know that only leafy weeds go into them (not bulbs or household rubbish!).

STNN has weed bags available, please let us know if having one will help you out. 



Donations for restoration and engagement projects are welcomed. STNN's bank account number is Kiwi Bank 38 9018 0076960 00. Just let us know if you need a receipt. 


 

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