The project is overseen by the Kurow Town Enhancement Group and was created to restore Kurow Island, a 20ha island and former landfill located between the two historic bridges on the Waitaki River at Kurow.
The funding adds to the $67,000 the group received for the project from the Meridian Waitaki Community Fund in early 2007, which enabled the group to transform the island from what it has formerly described as an ‘‘illegal dumping ground, waste area and fire hazard'' to a valuable community and ecological asset.
The Department of Conservation's Community Conservation Fund is a contestable fund which was established to help community groups undertake restoration projects on public land.
The fund prioritises restoration work for wetland areas, river streams and banks, dune lands, urban waterways and forest remnants.
Fund manager Alan White said the application from the group scored highly during the assessment process.
‘‘This application was rated quite highly because it is in the Canterbury dryland area and is achieving a good conservation outcome in a harsh environment. What also impressed us was the high level of support the project has from the community and the huge amount being achieved by such a small community,'' he said.
Project leader for the Kurow Island Restoration Project Sandy Cameron was delighted with the funding, which she said would contribute to the project's goals of creating an ecological, recreational and education asset for the area.
‘‘The Meridian funding allowed us to build the strong foundations for this project and paved the way for achieving the objectives outlined in the island's landscape management plan. This funding from the Department of Conservation will allow us to further develop two of the areas identified in the plan,'' Mrs Cameron said.
She said the money would be used for riparian planting and ‘‘under-story planting'' of willows over about 150sq m of wetland area on the island.
The project began more than five years ago and had involved many hours of volunteer time and effort. Mrs Cameron said those involved were extremely grateful for the enthusiasm, support and contributions from the community. This included the donation of a massive load of topsoil from local man Ron Hill, who had since died.
‘‘As a regular visitor to the island, he saw the large area we were going to plant out in grass and told us it was ‘‘pretty rough'', and wanted us to have a huge pile of topsoil from his farm to ensure a good seed bed for the grass to be sown and provide a good mowable surface. This soil, which amounted to 100 truck loads, was spread on the island and the grass has been sown with a very good strike. We were extremely grateful for this donation,'' she said.
The hard work of the group and local community has now paid off, with the island being well utilised by visitors and members of the community, who come to the area for walking, biking, picnicking and accessing fishing spots.
Mrs Cameron praised the collaborative and cooperative approach of all the groups involved in the restoration project, which included the Kurow Town Enhancement Group, Department of Conservation, Environment Canterbury and Waitaki District Council.
-- Andrea Kydd-Law
