LOVE YOUR LOCALS: TABITHA BECROFT Tabitha Becroft at her favourite spot in Lyford Reserve.
Tabitha Becroft
Planting seeds, growing community Heather Barker Vermeer takes a walk with Tabitha Becroft around Lyford Reserve in Sunnynook When you begin to walk a path, there is often no way of knowing where it will lead. If a path is yet to be forged, new ground has to be broken and a way paved for others to follow. Tabitha Becroft knows a thing or two about leading the way – she’s an expert in planting seeds… Two moss-covered rocks mark the entrance to the peaceful sanctuary of Lyford Reserve. Unassuming, natural, uplifting, this pocket of woodland in the suburb of Sunnynook is a labour of love for local resident Tabitha Becroft. Unassuming, natural and uplifting herself, Tabitha has made Lyford Reserve into a magnet for many, at a time when connection to nature and community is needed more than ever. When, as part of Sunnynook Community Association, Tabitha made an approach to the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board more than four years ago, she could not have foreseen the future need she was seeking to fill. A successful funding application led to work commencing on a 750-metre path project to create a bush walk and nature sanctuary for the North Shore neighbourhood. An unkempt
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Issue 112 - August 2020 www.channelmag.co.nz
area adjacent to Sunnynook Primary School was to be transformed into a useable, enjoyable landscape. “For a long time, this was just a bit of forgotten bit of bush. It was originally farmland that was left to grow over. Some of it was covered in pine trees, much of it had become overgrown wetland. In 2016, we got funding to start planning a path to go through it. It allowed us to decide where the path would go and all the engineering work that would need to be done.” Local engineering firm Stellar Projects got to work. “My husband is an engineer, so I roped him in to the project. He and his company did more than double the amount of work they were contracted to do; I really made the most of him being involved! His team went way above and beyond.” There was an existing path from Sunnynook Primary School that ran to nowhere but a few metres into the overgrown bush area. This was a natural starting point, which came with the opportunity of collaboration. “The neat thing with having a path running from the school was that the school could become very involved with the project too.” Tabitha’s four children (now aged 12 to 16) attended Sunnynook Primary. Since they left, she has stayed strongly connected to the school, not only as a result of the Lyford Reserve project but also by teaching gardening classes there three days a week. With the school on board, a core of 12 volunteers from the school and Sunnynook Community Association rolled up their sleeves and got to work. Next, more than 20 helpers from the locally based Shanshan Chinese group came along to help. “The people from Shanshan were amazing!” More and more locals joined the effort. “There were often several families down here with their kids. People would come down here to hang out and help out.” Tackling the task of clearing the way for the path took a massive collective effort. Volunteers did what they could with what they had. “The big trees we didn’t really touch, we’d be taking out the wattles and the weeds. As volunteers, we were not allowed to get stuck in with chainsaws! We had to leave that to the professionals.” A stream runs through the reserve, the natural fauna helping clean the stormwater before it hits the estuary. “It’s one of the main areas where water flows into the Wairau Estuary. I feel good knowing that at least that water is getting cleaned before it goes out to the sea.” This meant bridges also needed to be part of the plan. The widest of these ended up being created entirely out of recycled plastic.
