To get a better understanding of the management of Waiatarua Reserve, Orakei Local Board member Carmel Claridge organized a meeting at the reserve with OLB Board members, staff from Auckland Council’s Healthy Waters team and the contractors responsible for maintaining the storm water infrastructure and waterways in the Waiatarua Reserve.
These areas of maintenance for the Reserve are separate to mowing, edging, and pathway maintenance which fall under the remit of Community Facilities – a different arm of Council with associated work on those tasks being carried out by Ventia contractors. In simple terms everything to do with the water and within the waterways – including the weirs, culverts and silt traps is looked after by Healthy Waters and anything else is covered by Community Facilities.
The Board received assurances that the Wetlands are functioning as they should be as a natural storm water catchment and treatment facility. The silt traps are being inspected and cleared on a weekly basis by contractor staff. The canals that run through the Reserve from near the entrance at Grand Drive to the mid-section of the wetlands were cleared of debris and silt last year. This is a major exercise requiring the silt to be moved offsite, treated, and then discharged to land fill. A number of trees that have fallen into perimeter waterways during the recent storm events are scheduled for removal, and this work will be completed in due course taking into consideration that there is a considerable back log of fallen trees for clearing Auckland wide. Spot treatment of noxious weed species in the waterways is being carried out rather than blanket spraying as is done besides pathways. This is to ensure planting necessary to retain stream embankments and contribute to the organic filtration system. There are species of fish and eels visible in the waterways indicating a healthy ecosystem.
With the assistance of staff Orakei Local Board members identified some specific areas within the Reserve that would benefit from some additional planting in the future to further enhance the protection of the waterways. According to Carmel, the site visit and walkover was a valuable exercise, and a good opportunity for OLB members to be able to discuss concerns directly with contractor staff.
