Bay Harbour: December 20, 2023

Wednesday December 20 2023 Bay Harbour News
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
NEWS 5
New management
gets project under way
• From page 1
His mother, Faith Wright, said
the family is pleased the orchard
is underway.
“I’m happy that they are doing
the memorial orchard for two
people who died on the day of
the earthquakes.”
Ian Foldesi, was walking the
Stan Helms track when the
earthquake triggered a rockslide
that swept across the track and
carried him 25 metres down a
cliff face. His body was found by
the eldest of his three daughters,
Sarah.
The original idea for the memorial
orchard was inspired by
the fruit trees, owned by Owen
Wright, already on the site.
The land has passed through
various owners since it was red
zoned after the earthquakes.
ORCHARD: The Smith St Community Farm and Lyttelton
volunteers are up for the challenge of planting on a slope.
Now the land is owned by the
city council and came under the
management of Georgina Stanley,
the Smith Street Community
Farm manager, last month.
Stanley and her team have
stepped up to develop the
orchard after five years of the
site lacking management which
halted progress.
“We manage a 1ha urban
farm in Linwood, so we’ve got a
really good team who over the
last three years have got a lot of
experience.”
She believes the steep angle of
the site was a factor in why no
one was willing to develop the
orchard until now.
Stanley said it feels good to
fulfil the hopes of the families for
a memorial orchard after many
years.
“Spaces created by the community
have a special kind of
whimsy. They’re not the usual
big, monumental places. They
have a warmth to them.”
Using the memorial orchard to
help increase local food security
in case of a disaster is a focus for
Stanley.
“Lyttelton being isolated on the
other side of the hill, they end up
not having a lot of flat land, so
fruit trees make a lot of sense.”
Stanley plans to extend the
orchard by about 20 fruit trees
every year, but she is keeping in
mind community requests to
maintain enough green space at
the site for recreation.
‘I was stunned’
says girl’s mum
• From page 1
Her mother is relieved they set
up a password system when her
daughter started school.
Alert to the possible danger,
the girl knew to run when the
stranger failed to say the password.
“I was quite stunned. It’s not
something you expect,” said the
mother.
Sergeant Sinead McCormack
would not say if police had identified
any suspects. Inquiries were
ongoing, she said.
“The girl did the right thing by
questioning the male and removing
herself from the situation,”
said McCormack.
The girl described the man as
having olive skin, European, aged
in his 30s or 40s, about 1.9m tall,
slim, with dark hair and wearing
a black jumper and dark blue
jeans. He may have had a septum
(nose) piercing.
The girl said the man was
standing in front of a white van,
but she is unsure if this belonged
to him.
McCormack would not comment
on questions from Bay
Harbour News if police were
aware of other incidents where
children had been approached by
strangers in the area.
The mother strongly recommends
parents have a stranger
danger talk with their children
and set up passwords so they can
check if an adult picking them up
is genuine.
“It worked really well for us,
and it’s definitely inspired a lot of
other people in our community.”
She said a password could be
anything from a pet’s name to a
favourite soft toy.
The mother said Lyttelton Primary
School had been supportive
and proactive in making parents
aware of the incident.
• Anyone with information
regarding this incident is
asked to contact police on
the 105 non-emergency
line, quoting file number
231213/4326
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