Draft Town Belt Management Plan - Wellington City Council

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5 Ecology Community revegetation project at Te Ahumairangi Hill Guiding principle The Town Belt will support healthy populations of indigenous biodiversity. The Town Belt already has an important role in bringing nature to the city and has the potential to expand that role by acting as a hub for indigenous biodiversity and improving the city’s ecological resilience. Key factors for supporting healthy populations of indigenous biodiversity include: the connectivity of the indigenous vegetation to facilitate movement both within and through the Town Belt sufficient natural habitat (including streams and bush) to maintain native animal populations ensuring pest species do not threaten indigenous biodiversity. 5.1 Historic ecosystems Podocarp and broadleaf forest containing rimu, rata and totara originally covered most of the Wellington Peninsula including the Town Belt. The impact of Māori on the vegetation of the Wellington Town Belt before European settlement is not known in detail. A Brees print of Mt Victoria (1843) shows low vegetation with flax growing on Draft Town Belt Management Plan October 2012 33
the summit ridge. This suggests the original podocarp and broadleaf forest was cleared before European settlement as no stumps of recently cleared trees are depicted. By contrast, most of the western edge of the present-day city was covered by forest at the time of settlement. Heaphy (1879) records that in 1839 high trees grew on the flat towards Te Ahumairangi Hill (Tinakori Hill) and the sides and summit of Te Ahumairangi Hill “were densely timbered … the rata being conspicuous” 19 . There were native cultivations along the base of Te Ahumairangi Hill. Around upper Willis Street and Polhill Gully were high pine trees (native conifers) and some of the forest was partly cleared for native gardens. At the time of European settlement the forest on the eastern edge of the Town Belt, from Mt Victoria to Newtown, had largely disappeared through the fires used by Māori for land clearance. Probably 99.5 percent 20 of the original forest cover has now been lost. The plant associations on the Town Belt are young (less than 150 years old) and simple in structure with a limited diversity of native species. However, there are many naturalised plants and heavy infestations of weeds. Despite the lack of native species there are, in fact, around 600 plant species on the Town Belt. Only in the Botanic Garden are there remnants of the podocarp and broadleaf rainforests, which included kohekohe, hinau and titoki. From as early as the 1880s, but mostly between 1920 and 1940, a considerable area of the Town Belt was planted with exotic conifer species and eucalypts. The paramount motive for this work was the desire to cover the denuded slopes that formed the backdrop to the new city. The councillors and citizens saw the Town Belt as something to embellish with trees for the purposes of recreation and the ornamentation of the city. These tree stands were very rarely thinned or managed and today they have a considerable understory of native shrub species in some areas. Areas not in native or exotic tree stands are either managed as grassed playing fields and passive recreation areas or they are scrub-covered. These areas of scrub, often gorse and broom, have the potential to regenerate into native bush if left undisturbed and kept weed-free and safe from fires. In 1998, following the adoption of the 1995 Town Belt Management Plan, a proactive tree-removal programme started with the removal of trees on Town Belt land adjacent to Norway Street in Te Aro. Nearly 30 hectares of trees have been removed and the area either revegetated with native plants or restored since then. The lack of native species complexity in the vegetation, and its physical discontinuity, follows through to a lack of native fauna. Only common bird species are present (the only numerous natives are fantail, grey warbler and silvereye), as well as eight species of introduced mammal, five species of lizard and only common insect species. The planting of exotic trees may have reminded early settlers of home. Now residents support native vegetation being established on Town Belt (91 percent of residents surveyed, 2009). They valued the protection of native habitat for birds and other animals (93 percent). 5.2 Current ecological values The Town Belt is an easily accessible place where people can experience and view nature. It is also a corridor bringing nature into the City. The view of the Town Belt, the experience in it, and the habitat it provides, makes it an important part of the ecology of the City. There are over 180 hectares of native-dominated vegetation on the Town Belt, most of it in an early stage of regeneration (see map on page 34). It is made up of native forest (106.6 ha), native 19 “Charles Heaphy, “Notes on Port Nicholson and the Natives in 1839,” Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute, 1879, Vol 12. 32-39 20 Natural Wellington. A Plan to Preserve and Enhance the Natural Treasures of Wellington City, Wellington Branch, Royal Forest and Bird protection Society of NZ Inc, 1990 34 Draft Town Belt Management Plan October 2012
Page 1 and 2: DRAFT TOWN BELT MANAGEMENT PLAN Oct
Page 3 and 4: 6 Recreation 41 6.1 Recreational ro
Page 5 and 6: huge range of direct and indirect e
Page 7 and 8: 4 Town Belt between the suburbs of
Page 9 and 10: 6 Wilton Victoria University Ow hir
Page 11 and 12: 8 • A weed-control programme for
Page 13 and 14: 10 F3 Investigate opportunities to
Page 15 and 16: 2 Town Belt legislative and policy
Page 17 and 18: 14 2. The Town Belt will continue t
Page 19 and 20: Powers to grant easements: The Coun
Page 21 and 22: The Council will no longer hold a g
Page 23 and 24: 20 These criteria must be taken tog
Page 25 and 26: The Waitangi Tribunal found that at
Page 27 and 28: Many individuals who live in houses
Page 29 and 30: flanks of the ridges. The Town Belt
Page 31 and 32: picnicking and family outings or ca
Page 33 and 34: 30 Te Ahumairangi Hill is the highe
Page 35: 4.3.9 Sector plans will identify sp
Page 39 and 40: 36 Karo ri Ow hiro Bay Highb ury Wi
Page 41 and 42: public use of the area. This is als
Page 43 and 44: 5.5.14 Restore and manage these are
Page 45 and 46: the benefits of regular exercise on
Page 47 and 48: Karo ri Ow hiro Bay Highb ury Wilto
Page 49 and 50: Table: Sports and recreation parks
Page 51 and 52: 48 • Chinese Cultural and Sports
Page 53 and 54: Vehicle access is acknowledged as n
Page 55 and 56: city suburbs, several neighbourhood
Page 57 and 58: 6.6.16 The walkway system will be a
Page 59 and 60: known by some as the kahui tipua, w
Page 61 and 62: 1980: Former Town Belt land behind
Page 63 and 64: Aro Valley War Memorial: The memori
Page 65 and 66: 7.5 Policies Recognition and protec
Page 67 and 68: 64 . Karo ri Ow hiro Bay Sector 1 T
Page 69 and 70: There are two water reservoirs with
Page 71 and 72: 8.1.2.2 Upper Weld Street - To surv
Page 73 and 74: Dog walking is a very popular activ
Page 75 and 76: Wilton Rd Pembro ke Rd Northland Al
Page 77 and 78: Sector 1 - Te Ahumairangi Hill Land
Page 79 and 80: Table 1: Town Belt land additions,
Page 81 and 82: Site name Legal description and are
Page 83 and 84: Kelburn Park is mainly used for for
Page 85 and 86: 8.2.3 Landscape and ecological mana
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Northland Glenmo re St North Tce Up
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Sector 2 - Kelburn Park Landscape a
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Table 2: Town Belt additions, remov
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8.3 Sector 3 Aro Valley/Polhill Gul
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8.3.2.2 Formally remove from the To
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Karori Birdwood St Waiapu Rd Highbu
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Sector 3 - Aro Valley / Polhill Gul
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Site name Legal description Descrip
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8.4.2 Land additions and boundary r
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• Wellington Renouf Tennis Centre
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Mitchell St Sector 3 Aro Valley/ Po
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Open ridgetops and spurs Native for
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8.5 Sector 5 Macalister Park 8.5.1
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A more unifying cohesive vegetation
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Mo rnington Rd McKin ley Cres Harla
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Sector 5 - Macalister Park Landscap
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8.6 Sector 6 Golf Course/Mt Albert
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8.6.3 Landscape and ecological mana
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Newtown Park in the 1890s (S C Smit
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Baffin Gr Manitoba Pl Quebec St Map
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Sector 6 - Golf Course / Mt Albert
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Sector 6 - Golf Course / Mt Albert
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8.7 Sector 7 Newtown/Crawford Road
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conditions agreed with the Crown. P
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140 . • the extent of building mo
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Hanson St Tasman St Adelaide Rd Sto
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Continuous green backdrop to the in
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Site name Legal description and are
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The sector is a highly visible ‘g
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• Netball Wellington Centre admin
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College St Te Aro Cambridge Tce Ell
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Sector 8 - Hataitai Park Landscape
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Table 8: Town Belt additions and bo
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Town Belt between Mount Victoria an
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162 . • Mt Victoria lookout land
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8.9.4 Recreation Mt Victoria is mai
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Herd St Roxburgh St Caroline St Bro
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Sector 9 - Mt Victoria Management a
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Site name Legal description and are
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9.2.6. Manage and maintain discreti
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174 • lease • licence • permi
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9.5.2 Signs 176 a. No signs or hoar
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178 (i) no practicable alternative
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180 Encroachments into the Town Bel
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182 encroachments, botanical enhanc
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Appendix 1 Town Belt and Basin Rese
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thereby granted which may be reason
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Appendix 2 Land Schedules Land cove
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Land protected under the 1873 Town
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Name & Location Area Comprised in D
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left to lie fallow. The garden area
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Moera: Moe-ra (Moe-i-ra 54 or Moe-i
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Waitangi Tribunal, Te Whanganui ā
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iii. Best, E, Journal of the Polyne
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202 Draft Town Belt Management Plan
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204 Draft Town Belt Management Plan
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Appendix 4 Town Belt historical out
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208 Figure 1: Plan of the town of W
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aesthetic possibilities of the “r
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uilding leases grew, prompting the
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214 The Wellington Zoological Garde
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The plantation years Public agitati
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The new balance - indigenous and ex
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Resource use To many of the early s
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Other communications uses have incl
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224 Figure 16: Aerial view taken in
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5. Citizen action The Town Belt has
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Pragmatism appears to have driven s
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Draft Town Belt Management Plan - Wellington City Council

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