'I lost a friend and I lost a forest - my sanctuary'
Polar opposites but with a shared love of the same place
The Mish started as a way to bring you longer, in-depth reporting about Dunedin and its people. It’s now time for The Mish to grow, to bring you more from New Zealand’s greatest city.
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My favourite thing at the moment is to go for a run around Dunedin’s town belt early in the morning.
It is an asset to the city (the town belt, not my running) and covers just over 200ha.
It is also one of just three Victorian town belts in the world. You can learn about it here.
And if you know where the other two Victorian era town belts are located, please reply in the comments below.
So, it is a special place and I’m appreciative of those who retained some of the city’s forest as development threatened the then booming Dunedin
My family and I have done almost all of the walks around the city, but this week I found myself in a place where I’m ashamed to say I’ve never visited: Fraser’s Gully.
It was there where I met Amber Fraser-Smith, who was lamenting the loss of a local bush walkway, after the new owner prepares to fence off the 8.2ha property to stop trespassers.
The largely bush-clad private property off Helensburgh Rd is sandwiched between Fraser’s Gully, a city reserve featuring native bush, and the rear of Wakari Hospital.
Over the years an unofficial walkway had been cut through the bush by people traversing between the suburbs of Halfway Bush and Kaikorai.
“It is kind of like ‘our secret path’, and lots of locals – particularly during the Covid lockdown – used it,” she said, with my audio recording also picking up a cacophony of native birds in the background.
Fraser-Smith, reeling from the diagnosis of a friend with cancer, was shocked to visit the area a few weeks ago to discover some of the property was being cleared.
“It is one of the most stunning places in Dunedin,” Fraser-Smith, who previously lived in the area for 13 years, said.
Concerned over the loss of bush she contacted local councils, and returned to the area on Saturday.
It was there where she met property owner Shane Maaka, who told her he was fencing off the area.
“After I talked to the owner, I returned home to learn my friend had passed away . . . I lost a friend and I lost a forest - my sanctuary.”
Maaka, who co-owns the 8.2ha property with his wife, bought the land earlier this year.
“We didn’t buy it because we wanted to mow everything down and put houses on it.”
The property used to be a working farm, and had been in the same ownership for 100 years, but has “been let go for quite some time”.
That included part of the property being a dumping ground for refuse, including batteries “and all sorts of stuff”.
He had recently been working on the property, including removing introduced species such as sycamores, when he encountered people trespassing on the land.
A man did not believe Maaka owned the property and refused to leave.
“As a result on Sunday, we’ve identified the boundaries and taped the whole place off. And blocked any access for people going onto the property.”
The unofficial tracks carved out of the bush over the years were hazardous, and “is not okay on private property”.
“And I’m not going to be responsible for it.”
But Fraser-Smith said the previous owners had let people access the bush track, and she wanted that to continue.
She was also concerned that the area was an urban biodiversity area “smack bang in the middle of a reserve”.
Fraser-Smith was adamant she could already see the impact on that biodiversity.
A photo from Amber Fraser-Smith of some development. She had permission to be on the land.
Her concerns come as council staff visited the property.
A Dunedin City Council spokesperson said the land was zoned rural, and was part of an Urban Biodiversity Mapped Area, meaning there are some restrictions on the removal of native vegetation.
“We are aware some vegetation has been removed from the site, but at this stage it appears to involve only exotic plant species and not native bush,” the spokesperson said.
There was no application to subdivide the site.
Maaka’s plan was to fence off the property, which “is a mammoth effort”, and then remove the weeds, sycamores and “trees that shouldn’t be there in the first place and then replant those with natives”.
He envisaged putting proper walking tracks in the future, “to make sure it is safe”.
“I love the place . . . it is amazing,” Maaka said.
Part of his work will be to upgrade the older home on the property, replant boundary trees, and “tidy the whole place up, so it will last another 100 years”.
Polar opposites, but a shared love of the same place.
I’ve got another mayoral profile for you: Richard Seager, 60.
Occupation: Business manager
Political affiliation: Southern Independents
Tell us about yourself, and why you want be mayor of Dunedin.
I want to create the best possible future for the younger generations who are looking at a far more dystopian future than I did at their age. I want to protect the urban environment, Dunedin’s heritage and the advances that women have made over the last century or more. I want to vastly improve Dunedin’s transport choices with a concentration on cycling, small sub 400kg vehicles and in the longer term the return of trams and ferries. I’d like to improve the food production of the Dunedin area and demand local retention of all of Dunedin’s assets, especially its water.
What are the biggest issues facing Dunedin next term, and what are your solutions?
Women’s rights. Women have the right to decide themselves on who accesses their facilities. Put it to referendum conducted in an equal, fair and transparent environment.
Water infrastructure and local ownership (absolute rejection of the Three Waters project).
Transport infrastructure, especially cycling. But there is no use having George Street as cycle friendly when the cycling access to George Street from everywhere in the city is considered too challenging or dangerous by most of the population. In the medium to long term I would like to see trams and ferries returned to the city as well as other non-car options.
If you had to vote for another mayoral candidate, who would you vote for and why?
It’s too early to say, but none so far on the so-called left because of their identity politics. Of the others I’d consider Lee Vandervis and Jules Radich the most likely but I’d like to see what they have to offer regarding transport policies and attending to the destruction of Dunedin's heritage which seems currently to be proceeding unaddressed. I already know that we’re aligned on my other main issues. If Carmen Houlahan would consider my suggestion of Dunedin women having the right to decide themselves on who accesses their facilities then I would consider her as well.
I had a look around the George St development on Sunday (first photo) and again on Friday (second and third photo). It is starting to take shape.
I thought it was nice to see this delivery vehicle laden with flowers for the Cancer Society’s Daffodil Day. Great stuff.
I’m beyond excited to hear that arguably the country’s most interesting music act, The Avantdale Bowling Club, will play in Dunedin as they release their new album, TREES.
You can catch them on Friday 18 November at Glenroy Auditorium, Dunedin.
Seems that Dunedin’s social calendar is filling up.
And if you are out tonight, maybe running in the town belt or listening to some music, remember to look skywards about 7.27pm.
Happy viewing.
Thanks Hamish. Glad to see that it has not been edited.
I suspect the Wakari property will end up being developed. You could possibly be interested in the buildings that they've recently knocked down in a goddawful housing development at David St in Caversham near the top of Hillside Road. These buildings could have made an excellent community hub and council told me, when I rang them several weeks ago, that there was nothing that I could do about their destruction.
Hi Hamish, the two other "Victorian" town belts are Wellington and Adelaide.