An environmental ‘vision’ for the Jed River catchment in Cheviot is taking shape, with school children playing a key role in biodiversity improvements.

It’s been six years since locals began hatching a plan to revitalise the area – starting with a workshop led by Peter Kenyon, an Australian community development facilitator.

At the time, Cheviot was struggling to get back on its feet following the Kaikōura earthquake. The temporary closure of State Highway One meant there was no through traffic, threatening the survival of many businesses.

Jed River Catchment Project chair Catherine Maxwell says the town had become a “cul-de-sac.”

“The place was a bit sad and in need of a ‘lift’. Hurunui District Council came up with the workshop idea as a way to revive things and identify some of the issues at play.

“One of the sentiments that came through was that ‘we can do better’, in an environmental sense, and we narrowed our focus to the Jed Catchment. When you drove in from the south, signs were warning of polluted water – so that’s something that we wanted to look at.”

Eventually, a committee was formed – comprising mostly of long-standing community members and landowners – and the Jed River Catchment Project was born. It was set up as a sub-group of the Hurunui District Landcare Group (HDLG), which covered administration costs and provided a source of funding, expertise and networks that the group could tap into.

It was agreed that Hutchison Reserve/Woolshed Stream (a tributary of the Jed River) would be the initial project area.

Tackling willows stump-on