Manawatū District Council spearheads living memorial project

The living memorial at Whakaari/Mt Stewart reserve.

Four years ago when the Missing Wingman Trust approached Manawatū District Council about creating a living memorial to honour past and present New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) personnel and their families, James Adamson knew the perfect spot.

“Mount Stewart falls within the flight path for Ōhakea, and it just so happened to have mature trees, ready to be logged on council-owned land,” said Adamson, the council’s community assets liaison.

The site was earmarked for the project, with the revenue of the logging providing funding to kick-start the project.

Landscape architect Rebecca Wilson took the space and created a multi-year project on paper that incorporated native plants, trees, walking paths, a swing, and steps etched with the poem High Flight.

“On Friday, August 16, the largest planting event for the project thus far took place, and it was all hands on deck as over 5000 plants, many grown by the council’s own Kawakawa Nursery, went into the ground, completely changing the project from one in construction to one with life,” said Adamson.

Walking paths had been previously established through the council’s Long Term Plan funding. The paths take the shape of the Missing Man aerial formation stretching from the Mount Stewart monument north towards the top of the hill.

“Best seen from Mount Stewart Halcombe Road or in the air, as flights landing into NZDF base Ōhakea will experience, the paths are a feature for the living memorial.”

With the help of the NZDF base in Ōhakea, Missing Wingman Trust, MP Suze Redmayne, Green By Nature and Ricoh, who all donated time to the project through planting, the planting day was the perfect illustration of the importance of this project to the district.

“As a multi-year project, conditional on funding, the site is currently at a state where the vision has been established and can be shared by visitors.

“It’s a special project and one that will be close to home for many, as the role of NZDF base Ōhakea has played an integral part in our region’s history.”