Seat marks contribution
Friends of the Waikanae River held a special celebration and morning tea to celebrate the newly erected Dave Blomfield Commemoration Seat on the north bank of the Waikanae River.
The rain cleared in time for the event and was a special morning for Dave’s daughter Susan Blomfield who travelled from Australia in order to share this event with the group.
Dave Blomfield passed away last year on December 16 just three days before his 91st birthday.
He had been involved with the growing and planting of native trees along the Waikanae River for the last 20 years.
Rosemary Marryatt from Friends of the Waikanae River said, “It was Dave’s energy and enthusiasm that created a certain amount of publicity in 2013 when he was advised that only locally-sourced native seed could be planted.
“Dave’s reply, ‘it’s eco-mania’, initiated a flood of letters to the local papers with headlines such as ‘eco-cleansing’ and ‘ecoterrorism’ as non-local native species were removed from new plantings.
“Dave’s comments may have stirred up a hornet’s nest in 2013 but it led to a full and acceptable understanding by all parties concerned that only eco-sourced native seeds would be used in future plantings along the Waikanae River. It is fitting that the site chosen for his commemoration seat, which was donated by the Friends of the Waikanae River, overlooks some of his early plantings of pukatea (laurelia novae-zelandiae), now six to eight metres tall.”
The seat is near the Maple Lane entrance to the river with the plaque on the commemoration seat reads Dave Blomfield — a good friend of the Waikanae River.