arrowtown village association news

Mahu Whenua and wilding trees

In 2015 four QEII National Trust protective covenants, collectively known as Mahu Whenua, were placed over 90% of the land that makes up four former high-country sheep stations between Wanaka and Arrowtown. Covering 53,000 hectares, Mahu Whenua is the largest ever conservation effort on private land in New Zealand, and Arrowtown is the only residential area bordering it.

The name Mahu Whenua means ‘healing the land’, reflecting the desire of the leaseholder, Soho Property Ltd, to return the landscape to its natural state after many decades of destructive sheep farming. More than 1.3 million native trees, flaxes, shrubs and grasses have been planted and native birds have returned to the destocked hills. There is a robust programme to keep wilding conifers in check so that the natural ecosystem can regenerate.

Wilding trees

Preventing the spread of wilding trees, which were gradually taking over the hillsides of Mahu Whenua and smothering the autumn colour on Tobins Face, is a team effort. In 2017 the AVA helped to develop the Arrowtown Wilding Strategy. Through the twice yearly Beech Party, the community have planted over 10,000 trees, with up to 100,000 to come, including New Zealand beech and non-invasive exotics like oak, ash and maple on Tobins Face and along the river for autumn colour.

People are again curious about the long-term strategy and the future impact for Arrowtown's world-renowned aesthetic. That’s why the AVA is hosting a Mahu Whenua Information Evening on Tuesday 21 March at the Athenaeum Hall from 7.30pm. This is an opportunity for the public to hear from Soho Property's manager and from the QEII National Trust, and get an update on the progress of the Arrowtown Wilding Strategy. This is to help you understand the environmental imperatives being managed, as well as the practicalities of ownership and responsibility. In turn, you are invited to ask questions or express concerns and to make your feelings known on a matter that is important to us all.

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Classifieds Situations Vacant

Arrowtown Golf Club –

GOLF OPERATIONS ASSISTANT –who loves golf, to help in our busy Golf Shop. Varied role within a supportive team and successful club.

COOK/CATERER – with Club and/ or commercial kitchen experience. Min 25hrs per week with opportunity for more. Great location, relaxed atmosphere and huge potential to grow the role to suit your lifestyle. Contact manager@arrowtownfolf. co.nz for details. Must be a NZ Resident or have right to work.

Arrowtown Four Square – DUTY MANAGER Full time mainly afternoon/ evenings. Come work in our busy little supermarket in Arrowtown with great customers. You will need a current Duty Managers Certificate or LCQ experience and the ability to get the Duty Managers certificate. A team player & customer focussed. Punctual, reliable and honest. Taking responsibility for supervising evening shifts and organising resources to ensure that store presentation standards are met and exceeded. Please email your resume to Amanda Colmore-Williams at Amanda. Colmore-Williams@foursquare-si.co.nz

The Gold Nugget – RETAIL ASSISTANT

For a large busy gift and souvenir shop in Arrowtown. You must have great customer service, a fantastic work ethic and can work weekends. Please Ph Lara 027 480 8804 or email thegoldnuggetarrowtown@gmail.com

Public Notices

The Annual General Meeting of the Arrowtown RSA will be held in the Arrowtown Bowling Club Rooms at 7pm on Wednesday 29th March

Over the last 5 years a massive transformation has been undertaken around Sawpit Gully track through wilding control. Without intervention the surrounding hillsides would have been overtaken by wilding conifers. Thanks to the hard work of the Arrowtown Choppers and Arrowtown Wilding Group the outlook is now very different. Whilst we have not yet won the war on wildings, we have taken some major steps forward by removing most of the seeding sources from this area and preventing the spread further into the backcountry. Going forward we must deal with residual seed banks, but this is a lot easier than removing coning trees.

If you take a walk through this area, you will see some great natural native regeneration occurring and increased activity from the native birds. If the wildings had been left to grow this biodiversity would have been quickly destroyed.

This April the Arrowtown Choppers plan to plant a further 3,000 native trees below Eichardt’s Flat, taking the total to over 11,000 trees in three years. This is a massive community effort, and we look forward to you joining us for the 5th Arrowtown Beech Party on the 2nd April.

In addition to this work, there is ongoing work to rejuvenate Bush Creek with the removal of some crack willow and other weeds in preparation for further planting in this area.

Follow us on Facebook/ Instagram: @arrowtownchoppers, or email us if you have questions: arrowtownchoppers@gmail.com dig deep

We know how amazing our beautiful Arrowtown community is at coming together and showing support. On the 18th March the incredible team at The Fork And Tap are hosting a fundraiser event to help raise money for the Hawke’s Bay Flood relief. There’s 7 hours of live music from 2pm till 9pm, with an auction on the day. Entry will be $10 on the gate with proceeds going to the Hawkes Bay Disaster Relief Fund. If anyone wants to donate, pop by on the day or scan the QR code to direct you to the givealittle page, that would be hugely appreciated. Here is your chance to dig deep and contribute to this horrible tragedy.