Grovetown Lagoon Restoration Project

The Loop Track

This easy 55 minute track around the outside of the lagoon is finally completed!

A new bridge (erected 2016) clearly visible from Steam Wharf Road, and a delightful double-curved boardwalk straddling Kelly’s Creek (April 2019) have made circumnavigation of the Lagoon possible at last.

Locating the Loop track around the outside of the lagoon leaves the inside margin as a refuge for birdlife. Not all areas of the lagoon will have access tracks as it is important to ensure wildlife is not unduly disturbed. 

The group hopes that better public access will encourage greater interest and participation in the project. Proper tracks also make the area more easily accessible for working groups, including school groups and corporate volunteer days.

Riverside Area

Volunteers have formed tracks throughout the area between the Wairau River and the Rowing Club. Easy access was created and new native plantings established after the willows were felled.
Some significant plants have identification labels.

During the Kaikoura earthquake this area was subject to liquefaction with considerable slumping of tracks which however has mostly been repaired thanks to a very hard working group of volunteers from Outward Bound.

Springs Wetland (the Big Bush Project)

Purchased by the Marlborough District Council 3 years ago, this 9 Ha low-land and swamp is an addition to the original conservation area.

Many of the invasive grey willows have been poisoned - they are the 'grey' trees. Volunteers are currently planting the small paddock near the centre of the photograph with low-land species such as Carex secta (an indigenous grass),  Manuka and Kahikatea with the long term aspirational goal of restoring some of the original Big Bush of this area.