A successful A.G.M. was held on the 11th of November 2008.
This year's Trustees are: Mike Short, Greg Liddy, Brian Mayo and John Davies.
The Management Committee is: Chair Brian Mayo, Deputy Chair Don Willoughby, Treasurer Greg Liddy and Secretary Leslie Wood.
Committee members are: Harold Thomas, Julian Stone, Felicity McGrath, and Ann Pearson, and Joan McCathie is our funding member outside committee.
Spring work
As the spring has given us just enough rain to keep everything growing, we have been busy these past 2 months just trying to keep the weeds under control. The spray team has been out and about and now you can see what they have missed the first and second time. A lot of places like the bridge abutment, Pope Terrace and the weed matted area in Lumb Park have been hand weeded. The pruning shears and loppers have been sharpened and put into action along some of the walkways.
The nursery work does not stop just because it's summer.
We have had a number of wet Tuesdays which have been put to good use by doing major potting-up sessions.
The Council Trees have all been either potted on or put into the ground.
All the varieties of Mexican Oaks and Lime trees are now in large bags.
All the trees from Cave's Nursery have been potted up into large bags or into the ground so that they get a good root system going before we plant them out into the town. We have been consulting with the Council as to their placement.
For the river bank beside the Kauri grove, we are growing-on a lot on shrubs and ground cover.
We were given a whole tray of Mountain Flax seedlings which have been potted up twice now, and will be used on the Riverbank beside the Kauri grove and in the middle section "Riverview". A truck load of over 3 metres of potting mix can disappear in one of these sessions.
The building team.
These very capable guys have pulled down our makeshift lean-to where we had stored the carpet for mulch, and rebuilt a sturdy new shed. It is amazing what can be achieved with an old Tilt-a-Door. We now have a big shed, with a floor up off the ground, for the storage of all the carpet that we will use for next years mulching. This will protect it from the weather so it does not get wet and stinky. A bench was set up, and the load of Timber that The Cambridge Lions sponsored has been pre-cut into the sizes needed for the protectors that will go around the trees that are to be planted out in Payne Park and other places.
Work carried out with the assistance of the corrections department.
A big clean up has been going on in Lake Te Ko Utu Park. These guys and girls have been cleaning up the drain, the leaves and branches all around the lake and loading the rubbish onto our truck and taking it all to the Council dump in Queen Street. The big loads of carpet have been cut up into manageable sizes. Weeding on the riverbank has been continued.
Plans for next year.
We thought it would be a year to coast along but I think that idea has flown out the window. We have many little finishing jobs to get tidied up.
We have them listed on the wall, to be ticked off when achieved.
We have consulted with the council about the big trees that need to be planted. Our main planting job will be the bare riverbank where the gum trees were removed.
The future long term plans.
These will only be worked on when all else is under control or the corrections department teams need a job.
They include the clearing and joining up of the track system to the council grounds via the hillside behind the Service centre in Wilson Street.
Merry Christmas to you all,
And a very happy new year.
