17 October 2016

Council staff pitch in to support Cambridge wetland project.

Volunteers from Waikato Regional Council’s staff have rolled up their sleeves to support a planting day at St Peter’s School in Cambridge.

The wetland is part of a bigger environmental sustainability project led by St Peter’s School and Lincoln University. It is based on Owl Farm in the school’s grounds.

The wetland – designed to help treat farm drainage water before it reaches the Waikato River – was completed a few months ago.

It is co-funded by the Waikato River Authority and Waikato Regional Council, with support from Opus and Lincoln Agri-Tech.

The planting day was part of Owl Farm’s first public open day, which attracted almost 600 people at the weekend.

Doug Dibley, demonstration manager at the Owl Farm, said the day was a great success.

“With the help of a lot of amazing volunteers we managed to plant more than 2500 native plants.”

Regional council sustainable agriculture advisor Bala Tikkisetty said: “The wetland will have significant impact on water quality for years to come.

“The school and university share a vision for the farm to become an example for sound financial and environmental performance in dairy farming, and we support them with this mission.

“By creating this wetland to treat the drainage water, the farm is setting a great example for good farming practice.”

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