WETA WELCOME

WORDS Kim Newth PHOTOS Julie Chandelier

Six-legged guests checking into new bush accommodation in Banks Peninsula Te Pātaka-o-Rākaihautū are finding the motels much to their liking.

The Banks Peninsula tree wētā (Hemideina ricta) is found only on the peninsula’s east side, between Pigeon Bay and Akaroa Harbour. Threatened both by forest clearance and by rats, stoats and other introduced predators, this stripy-backed invertebrate is no longer as common as it would have been a few centuries ago. Yet their numbers are picking up again, thanks to the ongoing efforts of local conservationists and carpenters lending their skills to build, install, and monitor new wētā motels.

Led by the community, the Banks Peninsula Conservation Trust (BPCT) has spearheaded conservation work on Banks Peninsula for over twenty years. Today tree wētā habitat on the peninsula is legally protected, but saving a species like this takes time and commitment.

Christchurch wildlife and nature photographer Julie Chandelier documented a BPCT wētā motels project from start to finish between December and June last year, starting in Decanter Bay with the collection of untreated macrocarpa donated by BPCT trustee David Miller. The wood was then delivered to the Akaroa Mens Shed, where a willing team of craftsmen and carpenters set to work building 130 wētā motels in the form of wooden boxes with a tunnel entrance at the bottom and a front that can be opened for inspection. Once installed, the motels were monitored and found to be an absolute hit. Guests quickly snapped up the available rooms and wētā that had been living in older wētā motels welcomed the upgrade.

“It was incredible for me to see wētā for the first time with my own eyes,” says Julie, who lived in Sweden and France before moving to Aotearoa in 2017. “Seeing them in the bush was really interesting, really cool. I loved being able to photograph the motels being made at the Akaroa Mens Shed too, spending time with the older men there, observing them working, and hearing their various life experiences. They were very excited to be involved.”

With her partner, also a photographer, Julie enjoys exploring land and sea environments and using her photography skills to support conservation efforts. She is hoping to get her wētā photo essay published in various magazines, including overseas ones.

“Few people have heard of the Banks Peninsula tree wētā outside of New Zealand, yet their story is fascinating, and they are found nowhere else in the world.”

Julie worked closely with Alice Webster, Wildside Coordinator with the BPCT, on this project. Alice has held the role since October 2019, with wētā motels just one of many exciting and challenging conservation projects that she is involved with. She notes that Environment Canterbury and Lincoln University together supported a scholarship to fund a student to undertake an invertebrate study last summer, assisting BPCT’s conservation work.

“This enabled us to employ a student to help monitor wētā motels and update other invertebrate monitoring that was undertaken 10 years ago across the Extended Wildside,” Alice says, adding that the Akaroa Mens Shed team deserves a huge thank you for their incredible production line effort to build the new wētā motels – “you guys are legends!”

Our region is home to other wētā such as the Canterbury tree wētā (Hemideina femorata) that love wētā motels too. For info on how to make one of your own, go to the BPCT website.

bpct.org.nz

When central Christchurch’s Victoria Street was upgraded, 81 Victoria Street, one of the triangles at the intersection with Peterborough Street, was not included.

The adjacent Black and White café was leasing some of the space for outdoor seating, which consisted of a patch of lumpy AstroTurf and a couple of outdoor tables. Seeing the need for a facelift, the building owner approached Rough Milne Mitchell Landscape Architects (RMM) to prepare a landscape concept for a ‘Pocket Park’.

Director Tony Milne of RMM describes the collaborative design process. “RMM worked closely with the building owner on the initial concepts. Following this, to enable the development to proceed, the design needed Council’s Parks to sign off, followed by Community Board approval and finally, resource consent was required. A lengthy process.”

In December, Morgan + Pollard were engaged to undertake the construction, which has recently been completed. They brought to life the fantastic landscape plans drawn by Rough Milne Mitchell.

The space blends well with an existing large tree and grassed area and gives people a refuge to enjoy some fresh air and shade. The angled arrangement of the street furniture has been placed to encourage group interactions while not obstructing people.

The site’s existing forms and materiality and the recent street upgrade were all considered: the curved kerbs around the lawn edge, the paving bands and patterns, and the style of street furniture. Sketch alternatives based on the concept ‘embrace’ show a space enclosed by the building and the London Plane tree with sheltered places to sit and linger.

RMM worked with Urban Effects to design custom bench seats based on their Liffiton bench, which was used in the Victoria Streetscape upgrade. The Holland Sett and Piazza pavers from Firth tie in the design masterfully with the existing streetscape. The mature London Plane was considered in the design with effort made to minimise the impact on the tree.

“We are excited to see the mid-morning hustle and bustle of takeaway coffees and will enjoy seeing people sitting in the space, with the speckled morning light filtering through the London Plane tree. The planted areas we installed after a few growing seasons will further frame the area.”

Adam Pollard from Morgan + Pollard mentions the space is successful due to the careful execution of all the different construction elements.

“The intentional angular paving was a chance for our construction team to showcase their craftsmanship. With the added complexity of the angled paving, we are particularly proud that we were able to achieve the bold design as originally intended by RMM,” he said.

This renovation of a small urban park has a big positive impact on a local scale. The new space is vibrant and welcoming, with people already using the space.

Visit www.morganpollard.co.nz to discover more