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Despite inclement weather, around 150 Wellsford residents attended a celebration for the completion of Curry’s Bush this month. The bush has been upgraded with pathways and Kauri dieback stations.
The event was hosted by the Wellsford Lions and included catering by chef Maja Pedovic Moors.
Management of the bush was officially handed over by the Auckland Council’s kauri dieback team to the Rodney Local Board.
Board members Colin Smith and Beth Houlbrooke acknowledged local resident Caroline Milner for connecting community groups for the project and identifying the value of the forgotten bush.
Rodney College students will work with kaumatua Herby Skipper to build a carved waharoa gateway.
Rodney College’s head girl Eleanor Hayward, Student Board of Trustees member Mikaila Isla and Environmental Committee member Montel Vemoa thanked the community, and said the bush would be a resource which will help students into outdoor careers.
Wellsford School teacher Daryl Anderson said the bush would be incorporated into the curriculum.
“Kids are fascinated by rats and stoats, and they love traps. Students will take an active role in taking care of this place.”
“We can explore questions like how tall a Kauri grows, how long it lives for, or how Maori treated Karaka berries to remove poison.”
Auckland Council Kauri Dieback manager Lisa Tolich said she is frequently asked why so much effort should be put into saving Kauri.
She said they are a keystone species and their leaf litter changes the chemistry of the soil, allowing at least 19 other species to survive.
“Kauri was the largest export in New Zealand at the end of the 20th century. Kauri are the foundations of our country.”
She said the species descends back 180 million years to Gondwana Land but now there are fewer than 4 per cent remaining.
Kaumatua Herby Skipper spoke on behalf of his family which has had a connection to the land for some generations.
He said the land the bush is on was given to his great uncle Wiremu Wi Apo as a seven-year-old, by rangatira Te Kiri Kaiparaoa.
The 10,000 acre land parcel known as Pakiri three block included Port Albert Road, Worker Road and Rustybrook Road.
In 1874 the land was sold from beneath Wi Apo by his trustees without consent but returned to him in 1880 by the Maori Land Court. There was a parliamentary inquiry about it.
In 1885, Wi Apo sold the land for 800 pounds which paved the way for the town of Wellsford to be settled.
The railway was built in Wellsford bringing 500 workers and boom for the town.
John Matheson bought a substantial part of the land – including the road now named after him, where the opening celebration was held this month.
In 1902, Matheson passed away leaving his wife Isabella who remarried to Phillip Curry, the namesake of the bush.
Isabella later sold more of the land for 5 pounds allowing the Wellsford Saleyards to be established, still in operation today.
“We stand here today and we honour these people,” Mr Skipper said.
“I’ve been down to the bush and you can sense the history. There’s real mauri there. You can feel it. Its not often you find trees that big in this district.
“My great uncle talked about flocks of kereru and weka roaming, and pigs running around Wellsford. I haven’t seen a wild pig run up Port Albert Road in a while now.”
