A Cockle Bay restoration project that began with one resident’s concern about the beach has now logged more than 2,200 hours of volunteer work.
“Some 15 years ago I became concerned at the number of people taking large numbers of cockles from Cockle Bay beach,” project lead Barry Wood said.
Wood joined an Auckland Council shellfish monitoring programme and became a volunteer fisheries officer, then turned to planting.
“So here we are now, gone the full circle, and our restoration project is underway,” he said.
The Cockle Bay Residents and Ratepayers Association took up the cause, restoring the Cockle Bay Beach Reserve and the Pah Road and Windross tracks that lead to it.
“Inspired by the work Cockle Bay Beach resident Barry Wood had already accomplished, we at CBRRA felt encouraged to undertake further planting and restoration,” association secretary Julie Mitchell said.
The Howick Local Board approved a community grant for the work in September 2022, and has funded it three times since.
Early work meant clearing weeds and pest plants, and the team was rewarded with a hidden find.
“We were thrilled to discover several large Nikau Palms that had been smothered by privet along the Windross track,” Mitchell said.
Wood keeps local residents up to date by posting to the association’s Facebook group, where more than 900 members follow the project.
Recent posts show the team working through the last of the planting.
“Another very productive planting session,” Wood wrote after a July working bee, when volunteers planted out ferns and nikau and tackled weeding and planting on a steep wet bank along the track.
A later post called volunteers out to plant “the last lot of natives” in the reserve’s top area.
“Thanks to our dedicated team of volunteers we have made an incredible difference to the Cockle Bay Reserve,” Wood wrote, crediting the planting, the weeding and the pest control run with Pest Free Howick.
Residents reply in kind.
“Brilliant effort from all of you and we appreciate it,” one member wrote.
The team told the Board about its progress at a deputation on 23 July.
It now wants the Board’s help to protect a heritage pohutukawa tree at the southern end of Cockle Bay Beach.
The team says cars often park under or close to the tree, which has suffered vandalism and rubbish, and it wants rocks positioned to keep vehicles away and a sign explaining the tree’s importance.
The Board thanked Wood and fellow residents for their presentation.
