Val Faulkner recalls a marvellous childhood at the threatened Patuwairua Stream. Photo / Michael Cunningham
Val Faulkner recalls a marvellous childhood at the threatened Patuwairua Stream. Photo / Michael Cunningham
Val Faulkner hopes future generations of her family can still enjoy Patuwairua Stream's Jurassic World-like spaces - but a potential $150 million Ruatangata airport could put an end to that.
Faulkner says the waterway might be called a stream but is more of a river and bounds her family's dairyfarm - in the footprint and flight path of a potential new Whangārei airport.
"The river's part of who I am. It's a really special, beautiful place," Faulkner says.
The Whangārei District Council is looking at Onerahi airport's future via shifting to a new site or staying put.
The proposed Ruatangata airport site. Photo / Whangārei District Council
Four options, including Ruatangata, are on the table in public consultation ending on May 25. The others are Ruatangata West, One Tree Point West, and Onerahi.
The council's third face-to-face 'have your say' public airport location meeting is at 4.30pm tomorrow at Whangārei's Forum North. About 300 people have attended two previous meetings.
An online consultation meeting will be held on May 18 ahead of a public hearing on June 9. More than 200 submissions have been received to date.
Faulkner is concerned about the waterway's fate and whether new generations of her family will still be able to enjoy its treasures as it flows through the 174ha farm.
The treasured Patuwairua Stream. Photo / Michael Cunningham
The district council has spent more than $7m buying properties around Ruatangata - its preferred airport site.
"I am opposed to the airport coming here if it means losing this river," Faulkner said.
Patuwairua Stream is a key consideration in weighing up Ruatangata's new airport suitability, the council says.
"It would be incredibly sad to lose this place. I would hate to see it spoiled by an airport runway," Faulkner said.
She and her sister explored the river every weekend as young girls. Friends from town often joined them, enjoying the farming world freedom of roaming the bush beside the river.
"We'd all camp in an old canvas tent. At night, we had to be careful not to leave anything out because weka would race off with things - teaspoons, boxes of matches," Faulkner said.
"We'd swim. We'd cook our baked beans and potatoes on the campfire.
"As 10-year-olds, we made a raft up at the cowshed and wheeled it down the hill to the river on the frame of an old pram," Faulkner said.
Val Faulkner (fourth from left) at Patuwairua Stream with (from left) Anne-Marie Franks, Mike Franks, Lynda Franks, Theo Taylor, Wendy Taylor, Izzy Whitehead, Ryan Whitehead and Sam Whitehead.
Her father would bring fresh farm milk to the campsite daily from the morning's milking.
The waterway is Faulkner's heart place, still a spot to visit and stay almost six decades after she first discovered it when her family shifted to the property. New generations now camp beside the river during the summer holidays.
Patuwairua Stream begins in Matarau hills north of the potential new Ruatangata airport location. It flows through the site, onwards into the Mangere River and eventually into the Kaipara Harbour. The district council has described the Mangere River as a protected conservation area.
Kererū swoop and fantails flit through kauri, totara and rimu naturally regenerating after the river was fenced off 50 years ago. There are native orchids that can't be seen except when flowering starts in November.
"It was unusual back in the day to fence off waterways. Farmers saw it as loss of grazing," Faulkner said.
Freshwater mussels, crabs and kōura (crayfish) live in the water. Waterfalls slide over rocks, dappled light shines into deep pools.
Freshwater mussels in Ruatangata's Patuwairua Stream. Photo / Michael Cunningham
"WDC will make a decision based on a line on a map," Faulkner said.
