Wyllie Road Bush Protection
An ecological case for protecting connected native forest through rural subdivision
Client:
Private landowner
Location:
Wyllie Road, Warkworth
Services:
Ecological Assessment / Management Planning / Consenting Support
Project Overview
The Wyllie Road property contains a mosaic of native bush, including endangered kauri, podocarp and broadleaved forest, kānuka forest and regenerating broadleaf scrub.
Scrub prepared the ecological assessment and management plan supporting an application to permanently protect 97.2 hectares of bush and enable the landowner to generate transferable rural titles.
Project Scale
97.2 ha
OF BUSH INCLUDED IN THE APPLICATION
44.9 ha
OF ADDITIONAL BUSH ASSESSED AS SIGNIFICANT
5 years
IN THE WEED CONTROL PROGRAMME
Our role
Scrub worked alongside planners and surveyors to provide the ecological evidence and long-term management requirements for the application.
· Vegetation surveys and habitat mapping
· Significance assessment against Auckland Unitary Plan criteria
· Significant Native Bush Management Plan preparation
· Weed control specifications and a five-year programme
· Pest animal control design with 300 bait stations and 16 traps
· Kauri dieback hygiene, fencing and legal protection advice
Assessing the whole block
Only 52.3 hectares was mapped as a Significant Ecological Area. Scrub found that the remaining 44.9 hectares also qualified, supporting threatened and at-risk species while buffering and linking the mapped bush. The additional areas join three southern bush fingers into a continuous block up to 660 metres wide.
Planning for long term protection
The management plan sets out the practical care needed alongside legal protection. It combines weed and pest animal control with kauri dieback hygiene and fencing advice, giving the landowner a framework for managing the connected bush over time.
