Bay Harbour: April 07, 2021

Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
Wednesday April 7 2021 Bay Harbour News
NEWS 17
Hill dwellers need to be vigilant with water
In April, the
Redcliffs/
Te Rae Kura
Eco Village
Group will
be focusing
on water.
Co-ordinator
Dave Bryce discusses
water seepage on Banks
Peninsula
IF YOU LIVE on the hills and
have a problem with water
seepage and clay, you are not
alone.
The hills of Banks Peninsula
have varying amounts of a clay
material called loess on them.
This came as wind-blown dust
from the retreating glaciers in
the various “Ice Ages”.
It is comprised of tiny particles
which become suspended in
water, making it cloudy, like the
waters of glacial lakes such as
Lake Tekapo.
When the hills were covered
in native forest, rain water
dripped lightly from the leaves
The Avon-
Heathcote
Estuary Ihutai
Trust is a
non-profit
organisation
formed
to protect
one of New
Zealand’s most important
coastal wetlands. Each
week, board members will
discuss matters regarding
the estuary, its rich history
and what makes it unique.
This week Bill Simpson
writes about the influential
Peacock family
ONE OF THE mementoes of
the 2010 and 2011 Christchurch
earthquakes is the large mass
of netting on the cliff face
protecting the road at Clifton
Beach on the way to Sumner.
This area has had various
names – Shag Rock Reserve,
Clifton Beach and Peacocks
Gallop.
and soaked slowly through the
leaf litter into the soil.
Much of it was absorbed
by plant roots, but some
emerged in streams keeping
them flowing constantly
throughout the year (with
minor fluctuations). This clean
water supported ecosystems
including water plants, mussels,
invertebrates, koura, inanga,
kokopu and eels.
Since the removal of native
forests from the Port Hills, rainwater
pounds the grass and soil,
taking up chemical residues,
some water running down on
the surface, some soaking quickly
into the soil.
Some of this water triggers
downhill soil creep, and some
washes out loess underground,
collapsing the soil above it as
“under-runners”.
This water quickly discharges
into streams, depositing sediment,
smothering water plants,
degrading ecosystems, causing
major fluctuations in stream
water flows (from torrents to
prolonged dry spells).
The result is much faster
erosion of the hills than before,
and much more sedimentation
of streams, rivers, estuaries,
harbour beds and the ocean.
Many ecosystems across the
Peninsula cannot adapt to such
erosion, and many roads, houses
or other buildings may also be
at risk.
Hill dwellers need to be
vigilant – water gardens by
timers or by hand (and no
more than necessary); make
sure downpipes discharge
to roadsides, city council
stormwater pipes or appropriate
on-site storage tanks; wash
cars in water-recycling “carwashes”
or on lawns, but not
on driveways; never allow
water or soil to cross your
boundaries; never excavate or
fill land without appropriate
advice or city council
approval; never allow paint or
other contaminants to enter
stormwater; always check that
taps are off and not leaking.
ESTUARY MATTERS
SEDIMENT: Drayton Reserve Stream after a recent water
discharge down a hillside. ​
Peacock family has had major influence in city
PROTECTION:
Wirenetting
has
minimised
rockfall at
Shag Rock
Reserve,
The Peacocks, father and son,
were influential businessmen in
the early days of Christchurch.
John Jenkins Peacock (1798–
1868) from Sydney owned several
ships which traded around
New Zealand’s coastal towns in
the 1840 and 1850s.
He was known as a hard-worker
and would think nothing of
wading into the Lyttelton harbour
in all weathers to load sacks
of potatoes onto his brig.
But he must have tired of that
because in 1857 he built the harbour’s
second jetty. It was known
initially as Peacock’s Wharf but
with enlargements and improvements
it later became known as
“No 7 Wharf.”
His son, Hon John Thomas
Peacock, (1827–1905) is probably
best known today as the donor of
funds for the Peacock Fountain
in the Botanic Gardens.
He was born in Sydney but
arrived in Christchurch in
1844 with his parents. John
Thomas was a businessman
and politician. He was also a
philanthropist, most notably
through his generous support
of the Christchurch Beautifying
Association.
He was also the member of
Parliament for Lyttelton from
1868 to 1873, and then appointed
to the Legislative Council from
1873 to his death in 1905.
He also found time to be the
first mayor of St Albans from
1881.
Prominent on the Tramways
Board he made an impassioned
plea in 1905 for widening the
road to Sumner so that traffic
would be protected from rocks
falling off Clifton.
“In the old days I used to
gallop along that bit of road
in order to get over it as fast as
possible, and it used to be called
‘Peacock’s Gallop,’” he told The
Press on January 13, 1905.
He would have been an
enthusiastic admirer of the
netting there today.
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