One man went to mow

Mounting concern over the state of the Gulf Harbour’s golf course propelled a neighbour to jump on his mower, starting a community movement to clean up the course.

Last month, Jason Knapp bought a mower to tame the overgrown fairway grass outside his house. Once he started mowing, Knapp decided to keep going. Before long, he had put in 180 hours of work mowing the golf course. 

“I had run into Duncan Millar when mowing the 14th hole, and he put a drone up to shoot footage. From there, he got in contact with Ash from Gatmans, and things took off,” Knapp said.

Millar’s drone video of Knapp prompted a chain reaction of support from the community, turning one man’s mission into a collective project. Volunteers across the Hibiscus Coast came together with local businesses to work on everything from landscaping to invasive plant eradication. 

The group formed Gulf Harbour Community Charity Trust to organise their efforts. The trust created a programme of work to maintain the land until the legal situation is resolved. The team from Keep Whangaparāoa’s Green Spaces supported the trust with communications and a donation program. 

“We’ve supplied a couple of mowers, including a robotic mower. People are dedicated to getting it done,” Gatman Mowers and More chief executive Ash Stilwell said. He also donated his time along with that of his staff. 

Restore Hibiscus & Bays advisor Deborah Colson and a team of volunteers eradicated pest weeds from native bush surrounding the course. “We’re slowly working through the course, doing grid searches in dense pockets of weeds. It’s a long road ahead, especially as these plants have been seeding. 

“I’m blown away by the effort these volunteers are putting in – most of them just won’t stop,” We Do Landscaping operations manager Jayden Haley said. He has also sponsored the group with tools and a tip truck. 

Since the Gulf Harbour Country Club closed in July last year, the property has become derelict and abandoned. Keep Whangaparāoa’s Green Spaces is campaigning to retain the land as green space for the community. 

Additional reporting by Jayden Murdie