Bird hide wins out

Forest and Bird, Volume 23, Issue 2, 1 May 1992, Page 11

Bird hide wins out

WHEN THE Coromandel branch decided to build a bird hide in the middle of Thames township it pitted them against miners and an unsympathetic council. Originally a "1990" project, a lengthy planning hearing saw the project delayed and costs mount up. The proposal was for a hide to be built on the edge of Karaka Stream, 50 metres from a major new supermarket development, overlooking a shingle fan where hundreds of birds congregate. Three to four thousand South Island pied oyster catchers have been recorded at the site plus godwits, gulls, Caspian and white-fronted terns, shags and ducks. However, when the branch applied for planning

permission, Heritage Mining Company opposed the application on the grounds that increased environmental interest in the area would prejudice their possible mining application over the adjacent sea bed. Branch committee member Keith Purnell had to present evidence at a council hearing and only recently was permission granted. The Thames/ Coromandel District Council then billed the branch $1,300 for their expenses but after pressure from Keith the bill was reduced to $300. Although some further funding is still needed the building has begun. Designed by DoC, it is big enough to hold a school class. The branch believes that this creative and positive project will be a great asset to the Thames district.