New, more wetlands for people to enjoy in Ōtautahi

Ōtautahi - Christchurch has more than its share of amazing wetlands due to the city being so flat and close to the sea.

A new site at Burwood, once used to sort through the material from buildings damaged or demolished after the earthquakes, now has a new use lease of life as a recreational wetlands space the public can enjoy.

The Burwood resource recovery park site looks nothing like the construction and demolition waste area of years ago, thanks to the Christchurch City Council.

Christchurch City Council resource recovery manager Ross Trotter says the remedial work and landscaping has transformed the site and is incorporated into the Bottle Lake Forest Park, so popular with mountain bikers.

The Burwood Resource Recovery Park was established after the earthquakes as the city needed somewhere it could sort through the vast volumes of construction and demolition waste.

As much of the waste as possible was recycled, but some could not be re-used and remains on site. It has been compacted, covered in soil and planted to create a park-like environment with walking and mountain bike tracks and areas for birdwatching.

More than 100,000 native plants have been added as part of the extensive landscaping.

The plants are quite young but as they get more established this area will blend more seamlessly into the Bottle Lake Forest Park. The new recreation area opened to the public this week.

Across the city at Halswell native flora and fauna are flourishing in a new wetland area. The artificial wetland has naturally filter stormwater passing through before it flows into Lake Te Waihora via the Halswell River.

It’s one of several new wetland areas that Christchurch City Council has constructed to manage stormwater and improve the quality of water flowing into rivers.

About 60,000 native plants have been placed in the Halswell wetland and it’s attracting lots of native birds, including a nesting pair of pied stilts. There’s lots of tall grass and a rocky area too, so it is a good habitat for lizards.

Another new wetland has been set up in the upper catchment of the Ōpāwaho/Heathcote River to help[ reduce the flood risk in the area. The wetlands will act as storage basins in heavy rainfall events.

Thousands of native grasses, shrubs and trees have been planted to increase the city’s biodiversity and to create new habitats for native birds, fish and animals. There are walking paths and green spaces for people to enjoy.