Pegasus Post: September 17, 2020

PEGASUS POST Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
Thursday September 17 2020 9
News
East’s well-being
a focus for board
COMMUNITY wellbeing
is top of mind on a
plan that will also focus
on improving roads and
footpaths, and protecting
and maintaining
biodiversity and recreation.
The Linwood-Central-
Heathcote Community
Board’s priorities plan for
2020-22 outlines a raft of
ideas to tidy and improve
the inner city east suburbs.
Communities in the
south-east have been
without a swimming pool
since the Woolston Pool
closed in 2009, but this
will change when Te Pou
Toetoe is finished.
It sits alongside Linwood
Park, and the board wants
both developed as a coherent
whole, especially when it
comes to parking. It wants
an integrated plan for the
park, and better connection
with Linwood College.
The board says it
will advocate for the
continuation of a
Phillipstown Community
Hub, and for Lancaster
Park to be developed
alongside the community.
Broken and damaged
footpaths were affecting
people with mobility
issues, the elderly, and
people using wheelchairs
and pushchairs. The
board would push to get
things fixed in response to
community concern, and
for discretionary funding
to make it happen.
It is also keen to “green
the concrete jungle”
by identifying suitable
locations for street-planting
on berms and traffic
islands, and to activate the
Greening the East Working
Party to develop a spatial
plan for the area.
Funds would be sought
to make this a pilot project,
to develop the plan, and to
provide for work and land
purchases.
Light industrial
growth made Bromley
a busier place, and the
board wants the local
traffic management plan
reviewed ahead of a plan
to deal with current issues.
It is keen for speeds to
drop and for heavy traffic
to be diverted on to nonresidential
roads.
It notes some years
have passed since the
initial development of the
suburban centres Master
Plans for Linwood Village,
Sumner Village, Ferry Rd
and Main Rd. These may
need to be updated.
The board wants the
amenity and ecology of
the Heathcote River to
improve. It has significant
pollution issues, and
the raft of projects
seeking to improve its
amenity sometimes seem
uncoordinated.
Climate change will
force changes on the area
as, over time, it deals with
sea level rise and coastal
inundation.
BIRDS OF THE ESTUARY
Tanya Jenkins is the manager of the Avon-Heathcote Estuary Ihutai Trust,
a non-profit organisation formed in 2002 to protect one of New Zealand’s
most important coastal wetlands. Each week she introduces a new bird
found in the estuary. Her column aims to raise the understanding of the
values and uniqueness of the area.
Hungry oystercatcher
eats night and day
DECLINING: The black oystercatcher eats day and
night and can be seen on the mudflats looking
for cockles, crabs and marine worms.
THE BLACK oystercatcher
or toreapango with its
bright orange bill, red
eye and orange eye ring
is the “cousin’ of the pied
oystercatcher, which are
black and white. They
are only found in New
Zealand, adding to the
importance of a healthy
estuary to ensure their
survival.
Like its cousin, this everhungry
bird, eats day and
night and can be seen on
the mudflats busily ‘jogging
to and fro’ looking for
cockles, crabs and marine
worms.
Having adapted
somewhat to our urban
environment it also feeds
on earthworms and grubs
in the Linwood Paddocks
and the McCormacks Bay
sport field.
They like their nest
simple; making a small
indent in dirt, dunes or
on the beach among a few
sticks or a little vegetation.
This method makes eggs
and chicks extremely easy
victims from human activities
such as walkers, fourwheel-drive
vehicles and
motor-cycles. They will try
to defend their nest fiercely
though, so if you see a pair
of black oystercatchers
running around erratically
or even flying up in the air
just above you making a
lot of noise, then know that
they are protecting eggs
or chicks – so please, walk
away and stay well clear of
them.
Last year just over 130
of these birds have been
counted in and around our
estuary which, like with
PHOTO: BRIAN BETTS ​
many other bird species in
and around our estuary, is
a vast number of the entire
world population.
Sadly, numbers are declining,
so how can we help
these birds thrive? Keep
dogs on the lead when
walking near the estuary as
to not disturb them while
feeding or resting.
Do not gather shellfish
from the mudflats as we
need to ensure large numbers
of cockles are present
for the birds.
Gathering also disturbs
the birds from feeding.