Riverbank blackberry a thorn in planting plans

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

Opinion

At Saint Mary's School we are a Green Gold Enviro School. We have a river near the school (the Taruheru River) where we plant our native trees and plants. Our problem is that we can't plant more because of the blackberry bushes near the river, and we want to get rid of them. We have tried contacting the council so they could get rid of them but they haven't responded.

We also want to get the water clear so it is healthy for freshwater creatures to live in. We want to plant more trees so the awa can get shade and create a better home for insects and creatures like freshwater crayfish. We also want native birds to go down to the river and sit on a branch in the shade.

I firmly believe that the blackberry should be removed by the council so we can keep planting more native trees and plants for our birds, insects and freshwater creatures to live in and underneath.

Mya

Footnote response from liveable spaces manager De-Arne Sutherland:

We acknowledge that this work should have been completed some time ago. We have requested our contractor to prioritise this area over other plant pest work, and the work is now scheduled for Friday (today).