On Thursday 25 January a team of 45 people including Kāinga Ora staff, Northcote teachers and students, members of AMA Civil (+ others) got together to maintain Te Ara Awataha. The main focus of the day was to control a noxious weed called ‘nut grass’ around the area.

It was a great way for people within the area to understand the importance of our natural taonga, and meet locals and businesses within the Northcote community.

The day was led by the Kaipatiki Project, who enlightened the volunteers about the Te Ara Awataha environment. Rather than a neatly manicured garden, the river and its banks are a developing ecosystem and will require careful maintenance over the next 10+ years to ensure it becomes well-established. During these early stages, nature will seek to fill any gaps, so the volunteers must remove noxious pests to let desired plants have time to get established. Species such as native watercress are abundant throughout the awa, and have appeared naturally, so this needs to be nurtured.

Te Ara Awataha is an essential part of the Northcote redevelopment, born from mana whenua and the community, and delivered by agency partners Kāinga Ora, Eke Panuku and Healthy Waters. Te Ara Awataha School’s Edge was delivered under Kāinga Ora’s Northcote Development Programme, restoring and daylighting the Awataha Stream, to create a new natural environment for the community to enjoy.

The event was hard work but everyone had fun. The team removed around 15 cubic metres of weed. A big thank you to everyone involved. It was amazing to see everyone come together to do the mahi.

AMA Civil are a small, Māori-led organisation committed to helping Māori & Pasifika people develop the skills and knowledge required to seek meaningful employment.