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	History of Waitoetoe Park

WAITOETOE PARK

Planting Day - 10 July 2004

The Mayor, Mark Bell-Booth started planting along with neighbours, Awapuni Ward committee, Manawatu Tree Trust and Walkways Advisory Group members on a fine and cool Saturday morning.

Another 250 trees were planted amongst the grass that had been trimmed. The soil was silty sand left from the floods of February 15th but it was easy to dig. The plants included larger seedlings this year of kowhai, cabbage trees, totara, flax, Coprosma robusta and titoki. See below for Latin names.

At the conclusion when everyone gathered for morning tea, put on by the Manawatu Tree Trust, the Mayor gave a brief speech about planting efforts being rewarding and of a longer term benefit for the environment than some of the plans the Council has to spend time dealing with. 

The floods had a devastating effect on the established bush area and most kawakawa and Coprosma robusta had been flattened but are now resprouting. The PNCC had removed and cleaned up much of the debris left.  Tradescantia has spread throughout the bush now and a work party organised by the Awapuni Rotary Club was planned for Saturday 17 July to remove as much as possible but hand.

Planting Day - 30 August 2003

The Manawatu Tree Trust in partnership with the Palmerston North City Council, Horizons Regional Council, Awapuni Ward Committee, Environment Network Manawatu and locals from the Buick Crescent area had their 'next step' planting day on Saturday 30 August.  After a short karakia by Peter Cleave, of the local Rangitaane o Manawatu, Bill Clarke read out the history of the Park from Bill Regnault, who has been the main instigator of the bush restoration (also known as Bill's Bush).

The 'next step' involves planting the area between the open space of the Park and the walkway, where rows of willows are dying or are being removed to form cleared areas to make way for natives over the next few years. 

Plant List includes: 
Cordyline australis (cabbage tree), Phormium cookianum (Flax), Elaeocarpus dentatus (Hinau), Kunzea ericoides (Kanuka), Alectryon excelsus, Rhopalostylis sapida (Nikau palm), Toetoe, Sophora microphylla (Kowhai), Pittossporum eugenoides (Lemonwood), Pittosporum crassifolium, Coprosma robusta, Podocarpus totara (Totara), Chamaecystisus palmensis (Tree lucerne), Chionochloa flavicans

History of Waitoetoe Park    
as told by Bill Regnault

Read about how this area has been transformed from an unfenced patch of bush on a dairy farm and about the people involved, from 1975, who have progressed it to the beautiful bush area and open park that it is today.