Unbending will: volunteers replace stolen trees

McQuarrie Park Community Orchard & Maara volunteers (from left) Rochelle Francis, Elaine Francis, Heidi Boniface, Amanda Bordel, Tammy Acason and Sheryl Dunick take part in a working bee this week. Photos: Luisa Girao

A group of volunteers at an Invercargill community orchard say they will not give up.

About 15 people went to the McQuarrie Park Community Orchard & Maara this week to plant trees to replace those stolen in the past month.

Healthy Families Invercargill, along with Murihiku Kai Collective, planted nine fruit trees at McQuarrie Park in September with the aim of strengthening the local food system.

A couple of weeks after the planting, six of the nine trees were dug up and taken away and, last weekend, the rest were stolen.

Volunteers (from left) Mike, Georgia (5) and Beverly Lindsay and Amber and Indy (4) Frost help plant new fruit trees at McQuarrie Park.

Healthy Families Invercargill systems innovator Rochelle Francis said new security measures would be in place to avoid a similar situation happening again.

"We will be putting some extra security measures in place, including surveillance camera, and our South Invercargill community constable, Simon Ballantyne, said the community patrol will keep an eye on it when they are out and about," she said.

Despite being frustrated with the situation, the group was determined to keep the project alive for the benefit of the community, volunteer Sheryl Dunick said.

"If we give up, they beat us. And I don’t like to be beaten. We’ve got to keep going."