Northern Advocate
  • Northern Advocate home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Sport
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings

Locations

  • Far North
  • Kaitaia
  • Kaikohe
  • Bay of Islands
  • Whangārei
  • Kaipara
  • Mangawhai
  • Dargaville

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Kaitaia
  • Whangārei
  • Dargaville

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Northern Advocate

Couple sees wetlands dream realised

By Lindy Laird
Reporter·Northern Advocate·
15 Nov, 2012 06:36 PM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

When a 73-lot subdivision on a swampy wasteland at Onerahi failed, neighbours acted decisively - at least as decisively as the slow-turning wheels of bureaucracy allowed.

Eight years after Jeremy and Pamela Busck bought the scrub-covered 10.5ha between Ngaio St and Raumati Cres in a mortgagee sale, the thriving Dragonfly Springs wetland area is a good news environmental story the couple will share with the public at an open day on Sunday .

Once known in the neighbourhood for its open drains, being an illegal rubbish dump, flood prone and "a thoroughfare for burglars", the area is now a nature reserve with a drainage and pond system that purifies run-off and supports numerous bird species, Mrs Busck said.

A metre below sea level at places, the land was unsuitable for the pocket handkerchief-sized section proposal which folded in 2002, Mrs Busk said.

In 2004, after unsuccessfully urging Whangarei District Council to buy the land, the couple bought it themselves - only an hour or so before it went to auction, Mrs Busck said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

In 2008, they began the financially and physically demanding job of creating the Dragonfly Springs Wetland Sanctuary, with its three large freshwater ponds and thousands of native plants that Mrs Busck raised from seedlings.

The mangrove-fringed, zoned "residential one" land contains at least 14 freshwater springs and also collects run-off from the Church St ridge in a system installed by the Buscks.

Stormwater had previously "been piped straight into the tide," Mrs Busck said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Help developing Dragonfly Springs has come through community-involved working bees and Corrections Department community hours.

"We intend giving it away in some kind of community trust but are not at that point yet," Mrs Busck said. "When we do pass it on we want it to be self-sustaining."

To minimise vandalism, stray animals and predators, but particularly for safety reasons, Dragonfly Springs has a surrounding 2m high fence and locked gates.

Access to Sunday's event, from 12pm to 4pm, is via the gates at the end of Raumati Cres.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Northern Advocate

Northern Advocate

Far North homes without power after severe gales

Northern Advocate

'Economic growth is key': Luxon discusses Northland's potential with iwi

Northern Advocate

Northland businesses unite for CCTV initiative to combat crime


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Northern Advocate

Far North homes without power after severe gales
Northern Advocate

Far North homes without power after severe gales

More than 170 customers south of Cape Rēinga are still without power.

17 Jul 08:26 AM
'Economic growth is key': Luxon discusses Northland's potential with iwi
Northern Advocate

'Economic growth is key': Luxon discusses Northland's potential with iwi

17 Jul 06:02 AM
Northland businesses unite for CCTV initiative to combat crime
Northern Advocate

Northland businesses unite for CCTV initiative to combat crime

17 Jul 04:00 AM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • The Northern Advocate e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Northern Advocate
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The Northern Advocate
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP