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.”