Trust progress and first AGM

We now have an IRD number and a Trust bank account, with nothing in it!! We have applied for some funding from Trust Waikato and should know by August whether we have been successful. We will be applying for funding from other funding organisations as well.


The deed for “MANGAITI GULLY RESTORATION TRUST” is available to view on the company’s office website www.business.govt.nz/companies our trust number is 2548109.

We are in the process of applying for charity status.

We will be having our first AGM on Wednesday July 6th at 7pm. It will be held at 7 Carisbrook Place (off Cate Rd) Rototuna. If you would be interested in becoming a trustee you need to be at this meeting or contact the secretary, Malcolm Watkins 854-3243 to express your interest. We have the minimum of three trustees at the moment. There can be a maximum of seven so there is room for others who are interested in becoming involved. Please become familiar with the trust deed particularly Clause 2 to 4
The present Trustees are:
Rex Bushell (Chairman / co-ordinator)
Tim Reardon (Treasurer)
Rod Lugton
Non Trustee office:
Malcolm Watkins (Secretary)

Planting on Saturday

We had a very successful day’s planting on Saturday. There were 15 planters and we had over 1000 plants in by 2.20pm. That is really good. The weather cleared in the afternoon just long enough to get the job done. All those that gave a hand will be able to see the result of their handy work and feel proud when they walk over the foot bridge as the years go by.
Universal Treez, 027-274-0089, are donating several truck loads of mulch so that we can mulch the top area that will be prone to drying out over summer. The mulch will also help keep the weeds down.

Trapping Rats

We have six rat traps out, four around the foot bridge and two at the back of Sexton Road. We caught four rats at the foot bridge in the first week then nothing.
Carpet Court went to some trouble to source a length of plastic pipe that carpet used to be rolled on for us so that we can make another 10 trap covers. If you are in the market for carpet please ensure you get a quote from them and tell Karen McGill you are part of the Mangaiti Gully Restoration Group.

Track attracting visitors

Now that we have a track down beside the bridge there has been a number of visitors walking down under the willow canopy to see what we are doing. It is particularly pleasing to see the children spending time down there and using it as an adventure playground. There are plans to extend the track but, with the wetland conditions down there, this is not without its challengers.
Another thing on the drawing board is to design and build an eel feeding station to go into the creek by the track. Children can put their left over lunch in it on the way home from school!!

Major planting coming up

IMPORTANT NOTICE
When:
Saturday 11th June 1pm
Where:
Below the walk bridge joining St James drive to Grenache Place
To bring:
A spade (most important), a rain coat and something to eat and drink.

HCC has a planting plan for the grass area just north of the walk bridge on the west side of the gully. On the map it is the two blue circled areas, one with the number 25 in. HCC are supplying the plants (1563 of them) and we are committed to planting them. We have scheduled Saturday 11th June from 1pm. We are aiming for AT LEAST 20 people. This will be the one and only “BIG PLANT” as the gully we are working on does not have any other large areas in grass. You will notice on the map other blue areas on each side of the path. These will be planted by the Wednesday crew.
This is how it will work.
To ensure we have enough support for the afternoon planting could you please send an email by the end of this week to gullyrestoration@gmail.com if you are able to come. If you can get a group of friends together so much the better. Having the end of this week as the deadline gives us the opportunity to look for support elsewhere if we do not get the numbers.
If it is wet we will try the Sunday. If still wet the following weekend. By wet we mean heavy rain. It will still be on if it is showery. Check this blog on Saturday morning if in doubt.

Saturday’s Working Bee 21st May

We were rained out last month. This Saturday we will be focusing on the same area at the end of Sexton Road. The Wednesday team has done some work there and cleared a path down to the gully floor. It has some excellent specimens of Totara, Kauri and Miro that someone planted some 20 odd years ago. The ivy needs trimming back from the native plants and the introduced plants need removing.
No gum boots required this time.
Bring:
A spade, secateurs, and your morning tea (a rain coat if it looks like showers)
Meet:
At the end of Sexton Road. That is the road Odering Nurseries are in off Thomas Road.
Time:
8.45am.

Sorting out traps

To protect the nesting birds and small fauna it is important to get the rat and mustelids population right down. We are at the stage of trialing a trap design for rats or rather a container design. The trap itself is just the standard wooden rat trap. The container that holds the trap has been designed to minimised or eliminate the catch of un-targeted species. We have five ready to go this week. This should give an indication of whether the design works and if it does what the rat population is likely to be.
When finances permit we are looking at two traps for mustelids. These are $80 each so we will have to wait a while - and then there are possums.