Pegasus Post: April 03, 2018

PEGASUS POST Latest Christchurch news at www.star.kiwi
Tuesday April 3 2018 5
News
Call to rid river of hazards
• By Sophie Cornish
Dorothee
Pauli
NATURAL hazards and rubbish
are causing congestion, accidents
and near misses for more than
800 rowers and paddlers who
use the Avon River near Kerrs
Reach.
Plants called flag
iris, geese, weeds,
trees and water
quality are all
issues Union Rowing
Club president
Dorothee Pauli
would like addressed
in an
“ideal world” to improve health
and safety on the river.
“We are grappling with natural
hazards and the flag irises are
chief among them. They detach
from the side of the banks and
cause free-flowing islands, they
change position all the time and
people collide with them. They
trap rubbish also, making the
islands even bigger.”
Loose weeds are not able to
drain away properly as they
are getting caught in the plant
islands.
The iris, which Ms Pauli
believes are often waist-height or
higher, make visibility difficult.
“For me as a coach, the worst
PROBLEMS: Union Rowing Club president Dorothee Pauli is
calling for action to combat natural hazards, such as flag iris
plants, which are causing problems for Avon River users.
PHOTO: GILBERT WEALLEANS
thing is that they reduce visibility,
sometimes I can’t see my
crews and we are supposed to
supervise them at all times.”
City council acting manager
land drainage Tim Joyce said
it has not carried out any mechanical
removal of flag iris this
year. However, it has undertaken
a more targeted spraying programme.
“Getting equipment to these
sites is very difficult, either due
to the reach required or wet and
unstable banks,” he said.
“Flag iris is a pest plant and
we get our contractor to spray
it wherever we encounter it, not
just limited to the Avon River.
This is only done at certain
times of the year when it is most
effective.”
Ms Pauli said several groups
such as rowers, paddlers, and
other recreational river users are
having to adhere to strict rules
to avoid collisions.
“We have already looked at
safety issues in terms of the
rules of the river, how the traffic
should flow, who goes where,
how to overtake, it is difficult to
enforce, but we are trying.”
The flag iris’ reduce lane width
in the river, taking 1-2m on each
side, said Ms Pauli.
Growing numbers of geese
are a difficulty with their faeces
covering the pontoons used at
Kerrs Reach.
“We have to clean them all the
time and it all just goes into the
Avon . . . it’s endangering our
health,” said Ms Pauli.
Concerns about the state of
the trees on the river banks are
also an issue.
In January, a Shirley Boys’
High School rowing boat was
crushed by a rotten 30m tree,
with the crew narrowly avoiding
injury.
The congestion has caused accidents
in the past.
Late last year a single skull
rower was run over by a boys
eight boat, causing a rescue
operation, bad back injury and a
boat to be written off.
Local
News
Now
Fire rages, homes at risk
Felled trees
in Rawhiti
Domain used
for play area
THE TREES felled at Rawhiti
Domain due to safety concerns
have been used to form a small
natural children’s play area near
the Keyes Rd entrance.
City council approached the
Guardians of Rawhiti group to
ask if it could use the logs and
stumps to form a play area in
the domain after the trees were
brought down on March 13.
“It was all quite short notice
and an opportunity we just
grabbed. This was a case of
seizing the moment, to make
use of what we were loosing, to
create a fun area with material
that is naturally in the domain.
It gives people an idea of the
type of play area which could
be extended into the tree grove
area,” said Guardians of Rawhiti
member Ruthie Gareth.
The city council has put up
a sign asking people not to remove
the logs following an incident
in June when logs reserved
for a play area were chopped up
and taken by members of the
public.
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