September 2019

CATLINS COAST INC. NEWSLETTER

Kia ora & Welcome

Please enjoy the newsletter from Coast Inc.

If you would like to contribute to the next edition of the quarterly newsletter please email Catlins Coast Project Coordinator [email protected]

Join us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Catlinscoast/https:// The newsletter is a

Catlins Coast Official Website great way to ‘share’ www.catlins.org.nz information on what

is happening in The Catlins!

P urakanui - Photograph provided by Clutha Development

WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE CATLINS

Catlins Coast Incorporated (CCI) Spring greetings from the CCI Chair

The lambs and calves are arriving at this busy time of year for some of us and so are our visitors for others so I hope you have had time for some kind of break to recuperate, refresh or what ever you do before the crazy season really hits. The Tear off Map and Purple Brochure are in the final editing stages and should be hitting the shelves shortly. We have refreshed some photos and added /edited information so it is consistent with our Stakeholders messages and fits with our environmental care and protection of our beautiful community. The CCI appreciate all feedback received to date as part of the review of the CCI resources (Tear off Map, Purple Brochure and Care Code), however there were some suggested additions that were unable to be adopted for various reasons, but overall trust we have all things correct, but do please feel free to contact [email protected] to offer any further constructive feedback. The website is always available for new listings so please contact [email protected] to get the listing process started which includes any community news/notices.

I recently attended a Council (CDC) community meeting in regarding the CDC Responsible Camping 6 month trial sites in the Clutha area of The Catlins for fully self contained camper vans. Responsible camping/ Freedom Camping / irresponsible camping or what ever you want to call it, is a very contentious issue but one that Central Government has said is an allowable activity and Councils cannot ban it as much as some of the community would like this to happen. Doing nothing has not been successful, it has only led to anger and stress on the community and pressure on the environment and wildlife so I would like to congratulate the Council for taking on this challenging issue particularly going in to a local body election.

As always CCI welcomes you to come along to our monthly meetings.

Regards Dianne Miller CCI Chairperson

CCI Continued……...

Anyone who has any stories and/or poems of The Catlins they would like to ‘share’ on the website, we would love to hear from you as we would include these on the Our Stories page.

Should you wish any community information e.g. news and/or up and coming events be included on the new CCI website, please do not hesitate to contact me [email protected]

As previously reported, we have access to data from Google Analytics in terms of those visiting the CCI website over the last couple of years and are able to extract comparative data i.e. on a monthly basis. Given the new website went live end of November 2018 there looks to be a considerable increase in numbers from those who visited the old website vs the new website, which is great news!

As an example, the following data is taken from the *Home Page for the given dates. However, out of interest the most popular page visited after the Home Page is the ‘Where to Stay’ page, followed by ‘Visitor Information’ page and then ‘Captivating Activities’ page.

*Home Page

1st September 2018 – 28th August 2019 = 62,950 1st September 2017 – 28th August 2018 = 41,226

To be noted, after the first anniversary of the new website, the information will become even more useful in terms of comparative data for each of the pages on the website.

Lisa Biginato CCI Project Coordinator

Project funding 2019-2020 award for: ‘Catlins’ Bats on the Map’

‘The Participatory Science Platform (PSP) is designed to encourage communities — particularly young people, educators and scientists — to work together on collaborative science projects so that they become more enthused and informed about the role that science plays in their lives.’ The Catlins’ Bat Project, as part of the South branch of Forest and Bird, has been awarded $20,000 towards running such a project through to May next year.

This project will bring together community members including all the students in both The Catlins Area School and School, landowners across the region, the existing and any new bat survey volunteers, Earthlore Wildlife Gardens, and bat scientists including Ian Davidson-Watts and Gillian Dennis.

There is scope to include you too! Please get in touch with Catriona Gower [email protected] 0223 914 698

Initially, over Winter and Spring 2019, the school students are learning about bats, their ecology and how to monitor them. Bat recorders have been ordered and the students and their families will then be putting them out and about where they think the bats can be found. When they have discovered some bat foraging hot spots, they will work with Earthlore to catch night-flying insects to find out what the bats are eating in these hot-spots and what is the best habitat for the insects and hence the bats.

Tahakopa School students learning about bats Catlins Bats Continued ….. I am keen to involve other community groups, and landowners, who would like to have a go at bat detecting and finding out where bats might be around their land: please get in touch!

In March some participants will head to the 7th National Bat Conference in Te Anau to present all their project work to the bat scientists attending from both NZ and Australia, and, in the first week of May 2020 an exhibition of the work with a map of where the bats have been discovered, will be open for all visitors to the Owaka Museum.

Bat survey volunteers on a training evening 2018 ————————————————————————————-—————————

Some of the rubbish picked up from KP!

Keep Beautiful Week 2019

Kaka Point (KP) rubbish pick up took place on Sunday 15th September, attended by locals and some from out of town (20 plus helpers in total). There were some that couldn’t make the Sunday, but still participated in picking up some rubbish prior to the Sunday.

Over 52 bags of rubbish (plus items we were not able to fit into bags) were collected. The pick up was over an area from the Nuggets through to the 35K corner (Paretai straight) and along the KP Beach and some of the KP streets.

As per previous years, a lot of the rubbish collected consisted of e.g. bottles/cans (of some form), food cartons/packaging along with containers/barrels and chairs!

There were also 19 Telford students and 4 staff members who picked up rubbish on 12th September from the 35K corner heading to Telford and approximately 8k along the Freezing works road and they got just as much rubbish as last year if not more! A thank you to the Telford students/staff for their participation in the Keep New Zealand Beautiful event.

As always, although so thankful and pleased with the turnout over the week, I think we all continue to be disappointed and frustrated with the amount of rubbish we seem to pick up each year and that some people continue to deposit their rubbish on our roads. It’s pretty hard to ‘Keep NZ Beautiful’ when this type of behaviour doesn’t seem to change….

Lisa Biginato Resident

Clutha District Council - Freedom Camping Trial

Councillors have decided to trial an alternative approach to manage freedom camping in The Catlins area over the 2019/20 summer.

The increasing number of visitors, along with greater impacts on our communities and the environment, suggests that a change to Council’s current approach is required.

Council will investigate potential freedom camping sites for self-contained vehicles in The Catlins as part of the trial. Council staff will consult with landowners and stakeholders to determine the suitability of these sites, and the best way to implement the trial. The budget for the trial is up to $25,000.

Council agreed to trial up to three designated sites in The Catlins each able to take a limited number of vehicles, and where necessary, will undertake remedial work to ensure these are fit for purpose.

The trial will not include the provision of toilet or other facilities, and the use of the designated sites will be limited to certified self-contained vehicles.

Once the trial sites have been determined, they will be publicised through Council’s website and Information / Service Centres.

The trial sites will operate on a first come / first served basis, with a limit on the number of nights people can stay.

Council will provide information about the trial through its website, brochures and signage, directing people to the trial sites, and also identifying campgrounds in the area.

The number of people choosing to freedom camping the Clutha District has increased over the last decade, and includes both international and domestic visitors.

In popular areas like The Catlins, this has resulted in more pressure on the environment, and increasing tension between locals and campers.

Councillors acknowledged that the Freedom Camping Bylaw and Policy did need reviewing and it would be in the work programme for next year. The results of the trial planned for The Catlins will help to inform this work.

Under New Zealand legislation, freedom camping is a permitted activity. However, consultation for the Our Place Catlins Community Plan showed that a majority of respondents(92%) thought it was ‘important’ or ‘very important ‘to better manage freedom camping in The Catlins.

Clutha District Council Continued ……..

Call for Local Rainfall and Temperature Data Do you have long-term records of rainfall or temperature data for your property? The Clutha District Council are currently collating information on the past, present and future climate of the region. Alongside historic records and future predictions collected and modelled by NIWA, we would like to access additional locally collected data.

If you think you can help, please contact Christina Griffin or Mike Goldsmith at the Council, on 0800 801 350, or email [email protected]

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From small seeds grow forest giants

Gymnastics

At the start of this term we were doing gymnastics down at the hall for 6 weeks. We were doing things like the beam, the box and the mats. I learnt how to do a long fly and a forward roll and a

headstand . We did a display and a lot of people showed up like parents, locals and teachers. All the kids were there and the people were impressed and one of them even tried it.

Hut making In the third term we had an overnight camp at school. The second day we built a hut in the Glebe. First we cut down some small swamp wood and cut the branches off and then tied them together with vines to make the frame. We cut more little trees down to make the roof we put them on top of the frame, then we cleared the leaves for the floor. And then we built a wee tree hut where we could sit and rest. The hut at the moment looks amazing. We hope to work on it sometime and build a fence around it then I would like to name it Tahakopa Village. It is a really fun place to be and I wish we could go there any time.

Tahakopa School Continued……...

Anneke On May last term the breeder came and visited us with a group of Sweddish Vallhund puppies. Because Miss Hampton was thinking about getting a dog for a pet. The lady red us a book before she went out to get the puppies. Miss Hampton had already thought of a name. Anneke. Three days later Miss Hampton picked her up on the Sunday at the breeders home. We were very excited when she came to school but less then a week later she went to stay at Ms Gs place because Miss Hampton had conference to go to.

Science expo On Tuesday it was the science expo at Catlins and Cooper and I were a team. We had to make a marble run and make it for a minute. Copper and I made ours for at least 25 seconds and the others were less than ten seconds. I wasn’t there so i don't know how it went and I hope we win. It took a few weeks to prepare and I hope it was worth it.

My Tank My tank was a big cardboard box. The box came from Miss Hampton’s new fridge. It has two holes in the bottom for people to stand up and walk around in it. I loved it, it was cool. I could pock my head up through another boxI glued on top. I cut 3 holes in either side. I made a tape hinge, it was terrible. It was a bit sad but I had to use it for production of Jackie and the Potato Stalk. When Braydee and Alex walked it down to the hall a chopper swooped down to see how the box was moving

Cross Country I easily made it in the second cross country SOPSA In Clinton I had made it into the step up I went to Dunedin to the next grade up I was super nervous and I was the only one that made it through easily to the next group from Tahakopa school. It was a really friesen day standing there waiting for the other people to come in as I was in a singlet First second and third was a front of me as I got 4 so I to bunch up with all the other one's. ready set and they took off like a rocket I could barely keep up with them we went out through the field out at the concrete track around the cones up through a mighty wet paddock down through the trees and then we went around back across the The concrete paths and then across the line I would say I got about 30 something at about 95 it was really hard at the end me and Alex got a Furs and a sausage

By: Clark, Liam, Sarah, Alex and Braydee.

Sir Truby King Railway Bridge Track update

Two of the "Our Hut Heritage Hub Trustee's Russell Harris and Don Sinclair along with Les Jenks as a witness on the 11th June 2019, signed the Clutha District Council Road Occupation Licence to intern allow us to create the track to go up the Tahakopa River 500m from the Tahakopa Valley River Bridge using the uniform legal road (ULR) to the 1922 built Sir Truby King Railway Bridge sight. This is a proposed Category One NZ heritage status "Howe Trust" structure of which its signifi- cance in NZ is amazing, and its in the Tahakopa Valley.

Just now we are in the funding stage to accumulate the funds to erect the boundary fence that will separate the farm involved and the new track, as well as the information panels.

Interested parties involved in this track are the Clutha District Council -NZ walkways Commission- NZ Heritage-Donone Nutricia Milk Production Plant which is up at and the Forest and Bird.

Steering Committee for "Our Hut Heritage Hub" Tahakopa President: Beth Linklater Secretary/Treasurer: Eleanor Sinclair

Russell Harris and Don Sinclair as Our Hut Heritage Hub Trustee's, signing the Clutha District Council Road Occupation Licence, and Les Jenks as our witness.

South Catlins Promotions (Inc) (SCP) Proposed South Catlins Familiarization Tour

After many years of no Famils, our committee has decided that it’s high time that we had one in our area. For those not familiar (sorry!) with this term, a Famil is a day tour with our members/local operators and I site representatives visiting other local operators, making their acquaintance, exchanging ideas and picking up new ones, and enjoying the company of others, with a meal or two on the way. At the time of writing this, we have had a good response from oper- ators here in the South Catlins, and we are in the process of organ- izing an itinerary for the day. We would like to invite operators and any other interested folk from the North Catlins to join us on this tour around the South Catlins business operators. Discover what’s happening in our area. I will need numbers by 15th October at the latest, along with your con- tact details Our proposed date for this tour is Sunday, 3rd November. We aim to assemble at the Fortrose Cafe, for morning tea at 9.30 am. Lunch will be at one of our very good restaurants along the way. We

can car pool for those traveling individually to Fortrose.

South Catlins Promotions Continued…….

The details of the Famil will be sent out as we finalize them. Note: We hope that Catlins Promotions may host us around the Northern Catlins businesses at some point. Apart from the RSVP, any queries or suggestions to Dianne or my- self would be welcome.

Kind regards Janette Buckingham (Secretary, SCP) Ph: 2468 499, Email: [email protected]

Dianne Miller (Chair, SCP)

Ph:03 415 8669 Email: [email protected]

Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust (YEPT)

The new 2019-2020 hoiho breeding season is fast approaching with nest searching beginning around the 7th October. By establishing the number of nests and eggs, we will have our first idea of how the birds are doing after the very tough time they had in 2018-2019.

Last year for the first time the Trust employed a Catlins summer ranger. Owaka resident Sarah Irvine proved to be invaluable in monitoring both Trust reserves and assisting the Department of Conservation in maintaining regular checks at yellow-eyed penguin breeding sites between and Long Point.

We are delighted that Sarah will be returning in this role and begins work four months earlier than last year, on the 1st October. The Trust believes that the intensive monitoring work is an absolute priority. If you want to contact Sarah with any issues or concerns about hoiho ring the Trust on 03-479-0011.

In other Trust news , Long Point work base planning has reached a significant stage with resource consents being submitted to the Dunedin City Council and Clutha District Council for the container refurbishment and onsite foundations and dispersal field.

David McFarlane YEPT Field Manager

For Your Attention THINGS TO MARK ON YOUR CALENDAR FOR THE CATLINS!

Owaka Museum Market

Day

Labour Saturday , October 26

9 am—1 pm

Catlins Memorial Community Centre

Stall bookings now open

Sites: $20 single, $30 double

For bookings: Glenda Landreth

03 4158119 or [email protected]

Owaka Museum

Art Works by Maryann Darmody and Caley Hall

Exhibition in the Gallery until 20 September

Our next exhibitor will be Zee Robini - Hand Crafted Jewellery Starts on 4 October

Catlins Bats

There will be ‘Bat Spotting Evenings’ and talks about bats, open for everyone to attend, from October holidays. Both schools have planned overnight Bat Camps in November and, come the Summer, scientists will be trapping bats with an opportunity for community volunteers to see what this entails – and hopefully get to see a bat close up!

Please note: the CCI are not responsible for the accuracy of the material/information that has been supplied for the Newsletter, this is the responsibility of the author/s of the article/s