Lawrence rcould be known as the only town with a wetlands as its entrance.
That is the vision of the man who brought free Wi-Fi to Lawrence in 2008.
Jim Robertson wants the Lawrence community to support a proposal for a 2.5ha wetlands at the northern entrance to the Clutha district town where the Clutha Gold Trail ends at present: the project's ''pride factor'' could add to the town's identity.
Christchurch landscape architect Geraint Howells, of Creative Intentions, presented a preliminary design in Lawrence yesterday.
He said to develop low-value land into a wetlands could have great educational value for the local community and visitors, and it could serve to show the world the possibilities available for reclaiming what was essentially brownfield land.
Wetlands were the ''kidneys of the environment if forests are the lungs'', he said.
He discussed the possibility of a combination of open water, reeds and weirs and said even freshwater mussels were possible along the strip adjacent to the east of State Highway 8 as it runs south to Lawrence.
But ''it's the community that will build it, it's the community that will design it'', he said at a meeting of the Lawrence-Tuapeka Community Board.
Freshwater conservationist Lam Phan, of the Working Waters Trust, told the board that as New Zealand had lost over 90% of its former wetlands, it was time for people to support threatened species.
She said the proposed wetlands would be home to two endangered whitebait-like fish: the Clutha flathead galaxiid and the dusky galaxiid.
''We hear about our birds and other species, but we don't hear about native fish,'' although threatened species were starting to be more widely embraced, she said. This was an opportunity for the Lawrence community to ''showcase them as a local species found nowhere else in the world''.
Andrew Gray, of the Clutha Development Trust, said it hoped this wetlands project could be a template for other communities around the district.
''Lawrence likes to be first in things,'' he said. Mr Robertson said that with the wetlands conspicuous to traffic moving through town, and with its accessibility due to the cycle trail, the proposed project would be ''very visible'' to the public ''and we can market the hell out of it''.
He said if the district was to use the project as a template, it would show that it is ''not all one-way traffic here''.
Although its past of sheep farming had not had too much of a negative impact on the environment, some had recently raised concerns over the intensification of dairying in the area.
He said a district that embraced wetlands as natural filters would show progressive thought.
Mr Robertson's brother, Steven Robertson, has spent the past 17 years developing the Bellview Wetlands Reserve adjacent to the cycle trail at the entrance to town.
He told the community board on Wednesday he would continue to provide input on the project.
He noted the flora and fauna now flourishing in his 5ha wetlands reserve could complement the proposed community wetlands.
He said this year, already, he had heard a chorus of tree frogs.
The proposed site is council-owned land.
The working group has proposed the wetlands to the community board to get its initial endorsement before seeking wider community interest.
Once interest has been established, a feasibility study will be undertaken.
A trust will be formed and funding from a variety of sources will be found.
The community board endorsed the project until completion of its feasibility study.
