Dunedin resident Steve King began thinking about the state of the vegetation inside a former quarry at Second Beach in St Clair during the March 2020 Covid-19 Lockdown.
In April 2020 he put a notice in the dairy about forming a group to help improve the area.
When lockdown restrictions were lifted the group began work clearing areas.
The former basalt stone quarry was closed in the 1940s, and there had been decades of weed growth and invasive species.
"They grazed cattle around here, believe it or not, at some point, but they basically left it fallow. They didn’t do anything with it, so you have had half a century of invasive weeds, so it is a lot of work to try to undo.
"Ivy was just everywhere. Ivy, blackberry and convolvulus were the main offenders."
In the space cleared, the group were able to plant indigenous species.
The hope was in the long term the native species would outgrow the "weedy invaders", Mr King said.
"We are just trying to keep it realistic, we don’t have a grand ambition to ... completely rid ... the area of every last scrap."
The group obtained a working agreement with the Dunedin City Council to work in the area, and had been given plants by the council as well as some donated plants courtesy of Nichol’s Garden Group.
Close to 400 native species had been planted since the group began.
Successes included cabbage tree (tī kōuka), lancewood (horoeka) and heketara.
Other species had been a bit of "trial and error" including some native ferns.
Now after close to three years of gathering once a month as an informal group, Mr King was hoping to create a more enduring future for the initiative.
"We have operated so far as a fairly informal group, and we feel that the time is right to set up a more sustainable structure, possibly as a charitable trust board.
"The idea is to have a formal trust so that we can be a bit more sustainable in the long term," Mr King said.
• A public meeting will take place on Monday, September 4, at 7.30pm at the South Coast Boardriders Association club rooms at the Esplanade. All are welcome to attend.
