March 17, 2021Welcome Home Property Guide pages 17-24
www.localmatters.co.nz
Your locally-owned FREE Community Newspaper BEFORE, 2018
AFTER, 2021
Wetland causes stink in Stanmore A wetland created by Auckland Council three years ago on D’Oyly Reserve has fallen far short of what was promised, according to neighbours and park users, with some describing it online as “a rat-infested, weedy mess”. By contrast, Hibiscus Coast Forest & Bird, which first pushed for the creation of the wetland 10 years ago, claims it is “a major environmental success story” – a view that a number of residents agree with, saying it might not be beautiful, but it has more beneficial life in it than mown grass. The wetland, in Stanmore Bay, is the result of Council turning a piped stream into a more environmentally sustainable wetland. Previously the reserve was mown grass that got boggy in winter when a stormwater pipe frequently overflowed. As well as a place for plants, birds, insects, lizards and fish to thrive, the restoration was done to enable the community to enjoy the reserve, year-round. The project cost $1.5 million, $1.1m of which came from the developers of 20 Link Crescent, McConnell Property, in mitigation for piping a natural stream that had flowed through their land. Local residents, including Vicki Rapson, were enthusiastic about the wetland when the plan was consulted on. continued p3 Three years after it was created, opinion is strongly divided on the D’Oyly Reserve wetland. The newly planted wetland, top, has grown into what some describe as “an environmental success”, while others see “an eyesore full of mosquitoes, stagnant water and a place for vermin to breed”, left.