Craigieburn – Celebrating a Conservation Legacy

The Dunedin Amenities Society and Dunedin City Council will hold an open day at the Craigieburn Reserve, Tanner Road, Leith Valley, on Sunday, 17 October 2010, beginning at 10.30 am.
The open day will give the community an opportunity to explore the reserve and learn more about early colonial life in Dunedin and the Amenities Society’s efforts to protect and preserve a piece of living Dunedin heritage.
Descendants of the Sherriff family will plant a specimen tree to honour their family and there will be 150 trees available for the public to plant as part of the restorative effort for the reserve. The Society will also honour the work of one its important members, the late John Perry, a central figure in the Craigieburn project.
The Craigieburn property was purchased jointly by the Dunedin Amenities Society and the DCC in 1950. It was previously owned by the Sherriff family and their forebears, who had farmed the area since the early 1860s. The Sherriff family had, since the 1880s, personally protected the mature Rimu and other native trees growing on the site. Such protection by colonial settlers was rare, and, by doing so, the Sherriff family created an important conservation legacy for the City. There are now 52 mature Rimu on site that range in age from 250 to 550 years old and they make a significant contribution to the city’s biodiversity and landscape.
The Reserve will eventually be linked by a walking track to Ross Creek and include an interpretative walkway and website for visitors. This will create permanent public access to the area and allow people to enjoy the commanding views of Ross Creek, Leith Valley and the remaining city area.
Information and directions to the site is available from the Dunedin City Council’s event calendar at www.dunedin.govt.nz/events and the Society’s website, www.dunedin-amenities-society.org.nz.