Calling all trails enthusiasts – walkers or bikers!

This Friday there’s a trail-making working bee at Belmont Rise, (top of Adams Rd South), from 3.00 – 5.00pm. It will be strictly outdoors, so there will be heaps of space to easily observe social distancing.

We are at early days in forming this site, so we will be cutting down and stump pasting some of the woolly nightshade and gorse so we can build defined trails and convert it to a native forest area. A few natives were planted last year and they’re doing really well. There is already a main trail for walking and uphill cycling that we will arrange some metal for a bit later.

We need people to use pruning saws and drag woolly nightshade branches to a heap. If you do have a small electric chainsaw that would be very handy but do bring protective leggings, boots and ear muffs. We will use the electric saws to cut down stumps for applying a paste herbicide after the branches have been removed with hand saws

Bring:

• Gloves
• Mask (Mainly for woolly nightshade dust)
• Pruning saw if you have one, (we will have some spare)
• A sharp spade to cut off some of the smaller roots below ground level
• A cold drink for afterwards.

Having a trail here fits in really well with the Pukekohe Five Summits trail, extending it so much we could make it into a “Six Summits” including Puni. It also opens up a circuit option for Belmont Rise via Rifle Range Rd. If you can come and help out it would be a great boost for our growing trails community.