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New Trust for estuary off to a good start
A new community organisation has been
formed by groups and people interested in
the future of the Avon-Heathcote Estuary. A meeting was held at the Mt Pleasant
Community Centre on June 18 to report on
the last nine months of work toward forming
the Avon-Heathcote Ihutai Estuary Trust. The meeting, led by Don Ross of the
Landcare Trust and attended by about 80
people, resoundingly endorsed the formation
of the trust and the people who stepped
forward to form the first trust board. Members of the working group outlined the
vision statement, objects and structure of the
trust and how these had been decided upon. Statements of support for the trust included
those from the Christchurch City Council and
Ecan, the regional council. Both councils have
given money and staff time to help establish
the Trust. Members of the inaugural Trust Board are
Alex Drysdale, Jocelyn Humphries, Murray
Sim, Ron Dougherty, Valerie Campbell,
Chrissie Williams, Kevin O’Connor, Les
Batchelor, Tanya Jenkins, Steve Gurney, Peter
Townsend and Ruth Dyson. The meeting heard that the board hopes the
Trust documents may be signed and lodged
by the middle of this month. The trust will lobby for a better future for
the estuary and board members have put out
a call for people to join it and become
involved in groups that will work to educate,
promote and research what the Trust calls
“one of Canterbury’s outstanding water
bodies”. The Trust’s vision is of communities working
together for “clean water, healthy ecosystems,
open space and safe recreation we can all
enjoy and respect.” |