2016 News Page for Friends of Le Roys Bush

News from 22 December 2016

This beloved bush walk offers a chance to get away from everything without having to travel far, offering pristine bush in the middle of urban Auckland.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/north-shore-times/87713332/five-of-the-best-places-to-get-out-for-a-walk-on-aucklands-north-shore

• Le Roys helps out at Chelsea working bee on 2 December

  • On Friday 2 December, Ken, Keith, Les, Paul and Ted helped Pam at the Chelsea Heritage Park who had staff from Kaipatiki and other North Shore local board offices assisting on a work day..

    • This was a great opportunity to help our near neighbour get their project going and to repay the help she is giving to launch the Pest Free Kaipatiki Project.

      • Many thanks to the event organizers for the picnic lunch and chocolates.

    • The working bee was below the dog exercise area by the big sculpture. We helped the local board staff release the native tree plantings on the slope to the south east of this area. This is the site of the material dumped from the sugar extraction process. The site was steep and like ash in places. But it's a beautiful site with a great view of Chelsea Bay and the harbour. It's timely to recall the wonderful help that we in Le Roys got from other groups when we were developing our wetland and Highbury bush restoration projects about 8 years ago.

    • These pictures show the working bee site and Les, Ted, Paul and Ken on the restoration site before weed control began. You're encouraged to take a walk and to admire what the Chelsea group is achieving.

• Reports on working bees and other events

  • • Sunday 27 November 2016: We participated in the Valley Road-Wernham Place Beyond the Fence weed workshop on properties to the west of 1 Valley Road. Many thanks to Leanne, Ray, Sarah, Keith and Steve. The working bee cleared and stump treated lots of ginger plant, blue morning glory, queen of the night, pampas and other weeds. It was worrying to see large clumps of stream bank that have collapsed recently. But on the positive side, great to see some of the trees planted in the "Naturally Smarter" project

News for 26 October to 19 November 2016

• Track upgrades in Le Roys Bush - report on meeting with Council staff and contractors - Tuesday 1 November 2016

  • • Eight local residents who have been strong supporters of Le Roys Bush attended a two hour meeting with Nicki Malone and Julie Crabbe from the Council Parks Department along with ecologist Melanie Dickson and arborist Craig Webb. Here are some items discussed.

We are very grateful that for the 8th year, the BNZ's "Closed for Good" team did another great job in and around the Little Shoal Bay wetland clearing weeds and rubbish.

See our Facebook page for photos.

• Thanks from Ashley White

On 3 October 2016 at 14:01, Ashley White <Ashley.White@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz> wrote:

• Visit to Le Roys by Infrastructure and Environment Director - 23 September 2016

Barry Potter, Infrastructure and Environment Director, with Auckland Council team members including Mary Stewart and Ben Paris (not in picture) visited Le Roys Bush

• Opening of Kaimataara o Wai Manawa - the new lookout at 35-41 Birkenhead Ave - Saturday 3 September 2016, 10am to noon

The Kaipatiki Local Board's new lookout overlooking the top of Le Roys Bush will be officially opened on 3 September from 10am to noon. Our committee has been invited to the opening ceremony but the event is open to all. Some of the Le Roys Bush group were given a sneak preview of the view from the top end of the lookout. The view over the upper bush and the harbour is great. People have been talking about creating a view from Highbury and finally we have it. Thanks to everyone who has contributed to this. We've been asked not to display photos of the view - please come and see for yourselves.

The view directly across the bush reveals some great tree tops and tree ferns. Closer to Highbury are the dead remnants of weed trees such as willow, wattle, privet and monkey apple. Directly below the building is bare clay - EcoScience Ltd will be revegetating this soon with pohuehue which should also cover the clay under the lookout.

Many of you will remember what this area looked like 10 years ago - it was full of weeds and rubbish. The area behind the Westpac building was overgrown with massive bamboo spreading down into Le Roys.

With many working bees and grants from our local board and help from the Parks Department, we have started a wonderful transformation bringing Le Roys Bush up to the Birkenhead Town Centre.

Mitigation Planting - Kaimataara o wai manawa - Friday 22 July - 45 plants in the ground

• Kaipatiki Restoration Network

The KRN meets every second month with representatives of about 12 restoration groups from around the Kaipatiki area. The LRB report to the meeting on 25 July 2016 can be found here.

• BNZ Closed for Good working bee Wednesday 31 August 2016 - advance warning

Other news in our area:

• Beyond the Fence Seaview Ave group: congratulations to DIana and Mike and the wonderful team at Seaview Ave for the great work they've done in their backyards with bush restoration and rat control over the last year. And now they've done a great job replanting the Seaview Ave entrance to Le Roys Bush

• Pest Free Kaipatiki Project: the PFK workshop at Rawene Centre on 29 June had a great turnout of ~50 people from a wide range of groups. The steering committee is refining a vision, strategy and action plan to put to the Kaipatiki Local Board later this month

• Siltation and erosion in Park Ave by Northcote College: this major development has had the Kauri Glen stream flowing yellow. Congratulations to the Kauri Glen group for its work to stop the contractors washing mud off trucks on the street and down the drain into Kauri Glen Reserve; apparently ecologists are also studying the earthworks to reduce clay silts washing down into the stream.

• Weed workshop in reserve below 41 Onewa Road 17 July - residents on Onewa Road who back on to Onepoto Basin are having a working bee at 9.30am Sunday 17 July. Phone 021-240-9414 if you'd like to help them.

• Track Upgrade Walk Monday 11 July 2016

Thanks to Adrian, Andrew, Damian, Helen, Jo, Julie, Keith, Laurie, Maureen, Nicki, Nigel for taking part. It was good to have agreed on retaining the existing alignment and to focus on the details of where the track could be widened to improve accessibility for people. Wonderful to hear from Andrew from Frame Group o what is possible and why arborists/ecologists had made various recommendations. We expect the next step will be to receive more detailed plans that will be used in the resource consent applications. Even those improvements and realignments that are approved may not take place for many years. The work will be prioritised to address the most urgent work first. It was noted that KRN members are very keen to see any risks to kauri given a high priority. Andrew said his understanding was that where the soil had been compacted over kauri roots for a long time, that the risk of kauri dieback was probably fairly low in such locations.

Wherever possible tracks which are too narrow will be cantilevered to avoid cutting into an adjacent bank and its vegetation. Where a walkway is rebuilt or added and the drop is more than 1.5m, there will need to be a handrail. The group has asked if any such handrails could have wire zig-zagged below the handrail rather than closely spaced balusters so that children can see the bush.

NOTE: It was interesting to learn that tracks can be built across wetland areas on "floating" piles. This has been done at Kendall Bay.

After the walk, we did some drainage repair near 210 Onewa Road and cleared two logs from the stream that leads from the 3 track junction into the upper wetland. We hope this may reduce the flooding over the track - but there may be multiple causes for this. We also found some queen of the night by the Birkenhead Lodge and a large moth plant in the upper wetland.

News for 29 June to 15 July 2016

(Planting at Seaview Ave & Le Roy Tce, Track work, Weeding below Highbury)

• Friday working bee - 1 July 2016 - planting below Rosella Lodge

• Heavy rains on 29 June - drainage success - anyone want to help look after the track?

It was great to inspect the track the day after the heavy rains and see that the new 225 mm culverts by the Le Roy Tce entrance have protected the track. In past years the gravel on the track would have been sluiced out and washed into the bush. The rocks we'd placed in the ditches to catch the rubble and leaves were quickly blocked up and unfortunately overflowed. So we've spread them out. We will need to clear out the silt more often. Volunteer help is welcomed. Further down the track there was a bit of sluicing - the volunteer who has done such wonderful work is going to be away for a while. If any local people would like to help with the drain clearance or track maintenance, please get in touch with leroysbush@gmail.com

It was beautiful walking through the bush after the heavy rains. The air and bush were fresh and bright. Here's two shots of the waterfall with a slightly greater flow than usual.

News in brief - 11 to 22 May 2016

(Working bees, Rat bait reminder, Tree planting and clearing, Track work, Pollution below Enterprise Street)

• Bush rescue working bee - 10am to noon Friday 22 May - 251 Hinemoa Street

This is a continuation of the 1 & 24 April and 6, 13, 20 and 22 May working bees. Meet at 251 Hinemoa Street by the top of the track. If you are running late, phone 021-240-9414 or look out for the signs.

What to bring: robust shoes/boots, long sleeved shirt, gardening gloves, secateurs and/or small folding saw (and hat, water bottle, suntan lotion, etc if required). The working bee will bee will be held below Rosella Grove Apartments and beyond into the nikau grove.

Thanks very much to Don, Geoff, Keith and Ken for a valiant job planting 25 natives on Sunday 22 May 2016 above the site where the flame tree was felled. The bank was full of rocks and stones so most holes took ages to dig. Thanks also to Geoff and Linda for a barrel of superb compost from their gardens to help the trees along the way. It was amazing to see how many people were walking the track in the 2 and a bit hours we were there - delightful to see lots of family groups - although most who went down the track didn't come back up - maybe they were worried we'd ask them to help. Very rewarding also to hear comments of appreciation about the bush.

• Planting good trees and felling bad ones

• Rat Control - reminder to keep your bait stations topped up ready for the winter invasion

Winter's coming and although it may not be very cold (yet), rats are likely to start moving indoors. So it's a good idea to place your rat bait stations on the paths that the critters are likely to follow as they prepare to take advantage of your warmer, drier home. Keep the bait stations regularly topped up.

If you need more bait or want to return your reporting sheet, please email us at leroysbush@gmail.com

• Track upgrade and drain maintenance

Three friends of Le Roys met with the Parks Officer and the track upgrade project manager on 18 May and conveyed the thoughts of the people who took part in the track walk on 7 May. They will come back with more detailed plans after consulting with the Frame Group, the Council Biodiversity Department and other stakeholders.

In the meantime, Laurie will install two new culverts under the path by the junction of the Le Roy Tce and Hinemoa Street entrances. The aim of this is to prevent water gushing down the path and washing away the gravel. We are looking for a fit young helper to assist with the digging. Please let us know if you can help.

As you walk from Le Roy Tce down to the three track junction, you'll see the excellent job Laurie has made clearing and upgrading the drains and the track surface. Many thanks to him.

• Kaipatiki Restoration Network and Pest Free Kaipatiki

Friends of Le Roys Bush is represented on the Kaipatiki Restoration Network (KRN) which brings together restoration groups from all across the Kaipatiki Local Board area. The next meeting of this group is on Monday 23 May where the next step in the Pest Free Kaipatiki project will be discussed. If you'd like to know more about the KRN, please email leroysbush@gmail.com

• Congratulations and thanks to a Hinemoa Street family clearing pines and other weed trees

Congratulations to the Hinemoa Street family who have employed EcoScience Ltd to clear large pines and other weeds from their property on the edge of Le Roys Bush. You may have seen the large trees going brown near the bottom of Enterprise Street. Many thanks to the family for caring for our wonderful bush reserve.

• Weed spotter newsletter

• The May 2016 Weedspotters Network newsletter has an item on Kauri DIeback and kauri tree rootzones

• Bush rescue working bee - adhoc working bee 10am to noon Friday 13 May - below Rosella Grove apartments - with bush restoration expert advice on site

This was a great working bee - thanks to the Auckland Council Parks Department's project of providing weed control expert Steve Cook (Ecoscience Ltd) to advise and assist volunteer groups. Thanks also to Ken, Maureen, Ted and Keith for a great job clearing morning glory, privet, tradescantia etc from thickets of natives hidden under the vines. It was great to learn at first hand various techniques for clearing blue morning glory and for making it easier to control in the future. Thanks to Ashley, the Parks Volunteer Coordinator for arranging this.

News in brief - 1 May to 8 May 2016

• Track upgrade discussion walk 10am Saturday 7 May from Le Roy Terrace to Dudding Park

Thanks very much to Laurie, Adrian and Damian for leading the discussion at various stages of the walk.

And thanks also to Sarah, Carol, Helen, Maureen, Marc, Nigel, Sara, John, Ray, Philipp

• Beyond the Fence - planting in the Seaview Ave project

• The Seaview Ave Beyond the Fence group has done a wonderful job of clearing masses of weeds from the valley between Seaview Ave and Valley Road. Now they are in the process of planting a wide range of natives in this area. If you enjoy planting and would like to help please put up your hand.

• What's the smell by Dudding Park

• Some people have been asking what the smell is - it's even noticeable from a car driving across the reserve. We asked an expert who told us:

• It's most probably organic breakdown from high tides resulting in vegetation die back and anaerobic conditions occurring. A sewer leak is always a candidate however - so if you see any sign of sewer runoff please let us know.

• Pampas Grass on council land at bottom of Seaview Ave - for details see Some events reported

2 May - wasp control

1 April 2016 - monthly Friday Bush Rescue working bee - meet 10am at 251 Hinemoa Street

What to bring: robust non-skid footwear, gloves, secateurs/folding saw, water bottle and insect repellent if you are bothered by sandflies (if there are any).

What we're rescuing: Blue morning glory is spreading through the trees in the reserve below Rosella Apartments

Early April 2016 - Le Roys Bush Track Upgrade consultation meeting

The committee will be providing feedback on the track renewals project for Le Roys Bush

A plan is being prepared by the track specialists Frame Group Ltd.

If you'd like to join the LRB management committee to discuss recommendations to Council, please email leroysbush@gmail.com

3 April 2016 - Seaview Ave working bee - For details of this and of other working bees see the Le Roys Bush Calendar

4 April 2016 - Kaipatiki Connections Network Plan Review - stakeholder workshop - 6 to 8 pm, 15 Chartwell Ave, Glenfield

Give your feedback on the next phase on the network of walking and cycling connections across the KLB area

Light refreshments will be provided. For catering purposes, please RSVP by Thursday 31 March 2016 to nicki.malone@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz.

6 April NZTA drop in session on Naturepath/Seapath from 6pm (also 31 March and 1 April)

Remember the NaturePath/Seapath proposal? NZTA is currently favouring an option that is very similar to Forest and Bird's NaturePath.

NZTA is seeking feedback from the wider community on the proposed route for SeaPath, a walking and cycling route between Akoranga Drive/Esmonde Road and Northcote Point

If you support this, let them know - for more information on how to submit, go to: https://sites.google.com/site/walkbikeridekaipatiki/

19 Feb to 3 April 2016 - Rat Blitz - new bait for two week pulsing phase

• An email went out to the 40 plus rat blitz volunteers at about 6.30 pm Monday 14 March 2016.

• If you didn't receive a copy, would like to join the programme or need more information please email leroysbush@gmail.com

• Go to Rat, possum and stoat control for more details

History of Edward Le Roy

We have just received by email a copy of a wonderful 17 page history of Edward Le Roys (born 1865, died 1947).

It was compiled by Margaret Peacocke in March 2016; she is a great-grand-daughter of Edward’s brother Albert Le Roy.

To read the story go to the page Edward Le Roy & family

Council pest search website upgraded

The Auckland Council website has been upgraded making it easier to search for pest animals and weeds and to find out how to control them.

Go to http://pestplants.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/plant-search

Hopefully soon it will be extended eg by making it easier to identify plants by its flower colour, leaf shape etc.

Tree of the month

One of the fascinating but little known trees in our local bush reserves is the putaputaweta - inhabited as its name suggests by the weta.

See some beautiful photos in Putaputaweta World from Wade Doak

We had several ad hoc working bees over the weekend 12-13 March

(a) at the pathway that links 90A Onewa Road to Wilding Ave - three large pampas grass were dead-headed to prevent seeds spreading into Lutner Reserve. Also found a large number of moth plants on both sides of the track

(b) below the Birkenhead Ave shops, we dead-headed a pampas grass and released many trees and shrubs from convolvulous and blue morning glory.

There is a major outbreak of blue morning glory below Rosella Apartments at 1 Birkenhead Ave. If anyone is willing to help with an ad hoc working bee please get in touch.

Creating a pest-free Kaipātiki

An excerpt from the KLB newsletter

With more than 530ha of reserves and open space, the Kaipātiki Local Board area has the largest expanse of native vegetation in urban Auckland. The local board wants to see this area pest and weed free by 2026.

The concept came from the Kaipātiki Restoration Network, a group of volunteers who look after local reserves. The first step is to develop a plan of action. Auckland Council’s parks team will lead this, with the biosecurity team and local parks volunteers. The plan will be completed by June.

Community workshops will be held in March and April to identify issues and solutions. To get involved, email pestfreekaipatiki@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz

News in brief - 3 to 6 March 2016

• The old leaning kahikatea on the Onewa Road track just up from the entrance to the new boardwalk was removed early March, with minimal damage to the understorey. This kahikatea was old and an arborist assessed it as a potential risk to public safety.

• Also a Council contractor has inspected the two pukatea that fell in a storm recently by the junction of the 3 tracks. He has cleared the one that was arching over the Onewa Road track. A team will go in soon to remove the remaining limbs that are suspended in other trees next to the LSB track.

  • A manager of NZ Bio Ltd (Council contractors) texted to say that a team will be doing weed control in Le Roys and LSB reserves next week.

  • If you have any questions or feedback, please let me know and I'm happy to liaise with them. [2016-03-03]

We had a successful Friday working bee today below Enterprise Street. Many thanks to Alan, Les, Keith and Ted. Great to see self-seeded kahikatea growing in amongst the convolvus and other weeds. Cleared gorse, giant reed, pampas, convolvulous and heaps of annual weeds. [2016-03-04]

The Northcote College Fish Monitoring Team reports more pollution just below the kokopu pool. Some oily water intruding on the stream with unduly high ammonia readings. This pollution is likely to destroy the fish habitat in the stream below that point. For details see Some events reported

On Saturday 5 March a bush rescue working bee was held to assist an 87 year old resident who has been clearing the bush below her house for the past 43 years; following a fall she is no longer able to do so. Thanks Elizabeth for your kind donation to LRB funds. We cleared a lot of Blue Morning Glory, ginger, acanthus mollis and one strand of moth plant.

She also pointed out that there is a lot of blue morning glory growing in the bush on the west side of Valley Road and creeping across the footpath and into the barriers placed there to close off the wooden footbridge. We may have a working bee there to start controlling the bmg in the reserve below this footbridge. We also hope to work with the residents on the western side of Valley Road to control the variety of pest plants which risk sending a wide variety of weeds down into Le Roys.

The Seaview Ave "Beyond the Fence" working bee on Sunday 7 March went well - although some of last year's plantings weree hiddey by very tall black nightshade and nut grass. Good to welcome a new family joining the group.

News in brief - 24 February 2016

• Two trailer load of flax bushes removed from a building site have been donated to us. These will be planted around the wetland at the Bush Rescue working bee on 28 Feb.

• The committee was represented at a meeting at the site of the new lookout platform on Birkenhead Ave to discuss mitigation planting and a possible storage area for the Friends group [24 Feb 2016]

• A pollution event from around 24 Enterprise Street was reported on 21 Feb and passed on to the Council pollution team. See Some events reported for photos of this spill.

• A case of weed waste dumping was reported on 20 Feb. This has been passed on to Council's contract management team.

• A wasp nest was detected at the bottom of the new walkway steps on 20 Feb - it was reported to Council and their wasp expert dealt to it on Sunday.

• Two pukatea trees fell at the junction of the Le Roy Tce track with the Onewa Road and Little Shoal Bay tracks. Thanks to volunteer Laurie for tidying this tree up. The arborists are due to remove both trees soon [24Feb2016].

• The "Love your Parks" event was held on 14 February with a great crowd estimated at 150 people. Many thanks to the Kaipatiki Local Board, the KCFT and the Parks Dept.

• At the February committee meeting, it was decided to "re-brand" our supporters group as "Friends of Le Roys Bush". The committee will continue to operate as the Le Roys Bush Management Committee. The charitable trust will retain its name of Le Roys Bush and Little Shoal Bay Reserves Charitable Trust.

Willow, bamboo control in Highbury

Many thanks to Ashley, the Parks Department volunteer coordinator, for providing the funding for EcoScience Ltd to control the large and expanding grey willow at the top of Le Roys Bush just below the new Kaimataara o Wai Manawa viewing platform. [2 Feb 2016]

Advance warning of track closure

A dead kahikatea needs to be felled in the interests of public safety.

The work is ​scheduled for 2-Feb-2016 - the track from Onewa Road and 251 Hinemoa Street may be closed from about 9.30am for about 5 hours. [2016-02-05 - we got an email from a resident to say the work had been done].

Alternate day ( Inclement weather) – 10th Feb 2016.

Signage will be put up to notify the public. [Posted 2016-01-25]

EIF Project 2015 in Little Shoal Bay Wetland - wrap up

The 2015 wetland project saw the end of another phase in the restoration of the Little Shoal Bay wetland - the end of the EIF (Environmental Improvement Fund) from which Auckland Council has provided massive assistance in allowing us to hire EcoScience Limited to control crack willow, pampas grass, honeysuckle, climbing asparagus, wattle and many other pest plants in the North Shore's second largest raupo wetland. Many thanks to the Auckland Council's elected representatives and council staff who have assisted us in this project. However the work will continue and we will be looking for other sources of funding to assist with this work. The BNZ Open for Good project has also been a vital source of support for many years and we hope to see them again in future.

Newsletter sent out 20 January 2016

If you haven't received the following email but would like to, please email us.

Hi all

Happy New Year to you. We hope you've had a great summer so far this year - in between the rain.

Maybe you are among the many people who have walked the new walkway from the Senior Citizens Hall at 251 Hinemoa Street down the valley past the bottom of Enterprise Street to join the old walkway between Onewa Road and the waterfall.

Feedback on the walkway has been very positive from a wide range of people with congratulations all round to the old NSCC for initiating the purchase of the land and to the KLB for getting the track built.

We would welcome feedback on our new Le Roys Bush Walks smart phone pages - to give you maps and other information that is readable on your phone while you are walking through the bush.

Our next working bee is this Sunday - 24 January from 10am and would particularly welcome an hour or two of your time from fit people who don't mind clambering around on a steep slope.

We hope to clear some of the inorganic rubbish from the slope at the bottom of Enterprise Street and to control the beggars ticks, yucca and other weeds before they spread. We have permission from the Hauraki Panel and Paint to access this area below their workshop. What to bring: Gardening gloves and clothes/boots suitable to work on a steep slope. Also hat, water bottle etc. Meeting place: come down the steps from 251 Hinemoa Street.

Time dependent, we'll also do some weed clearance and maybe a bit of No 8 wire fencing. Look forward to seeing you there.

We have started new working bees on the first Friday of each month - in addition to the last Sunday of each month. The first session cleared a lot of ginger plant and tradescantia beside the steps going down from 251 Hinemoa Street. Two volunteers have also done some work since then on Friday and Sunday mornings clearing beggars ticks, montbretia, palm grass and other weeds. If you'd like to join us on the first Friday of February from 10am we'd be delighted to see you.

The track had a quiet opening with a blessing in December and there will be a KLB event to celebrate the new track on 14 February - Valentines Day (click here for their Facebook page). This event will provide a chance for the public to meet with local volunteer groups including the Le Roys Bush committee, Beyond the Fence project members, the Northcote College Fish Monitoring Team and others and to learn more about the bush, the banded kokopu and other aspects of our beautiful native bush. Council tells us that signage on the new track will be installed in the next week or two.

The past year has, alongside the success of the track opening and various bush restoration projects, had a few ups and downs. During the period of track construction, the unique jumping kokopu disappeared from the pool at the bottom of the track. At last count four had returned. Hopefully more will return. The construction project did some replanting in November alongside the track which has attracted some concerns about its ecological appropriateness. We will address that in autumn. We will also do restoration planting and seeding on the slope below the panel beaters at the bottom of Enterprise Street.

There is more news about the track on our website and notes about the working bees we've had recently and plan for the future.

We will also be contacting all rat control volunteers soon about the next rat control phase using a different bait. Some volunteers report almost nil rat activity. However one volunteer in Wernham Place reports renewed activity.

Please join the Le Roys Bush Facebook page so you can get news and photos from time to time and keep an eye on our news page.

Questions and comments welcome to LeRoysBush@gmail.com

Best wishes from the LRB Management Committee

Other topics coming up soon:

• Erosion in Le Roys Bush streams and what can be done

• Pest Free Kaipatiki project approved by KLB

Click here for 2015 newsletters