Get behind Gumboot Friday, caring for our Coast and more updates

Published on 11 October 2024

Get behind Gumboot Friday

Our Mayor Len Salt is all in for Gumboot Friday, and he’s calling on our community to join in!

"Thames-Coromandel is 100% behind Gumboot Friday," says Len, giving a nod to how much the event means. "We’ve all had personal experiences with mental health challenges, which is why it’s so important to get behind mental health awareness, both personally and as a community."

Our Council is supporting the Friday 1 November “Gumboot up NZ!” campaign. 100% of donations goes towards funding free youth counselling.

Does your community group or organisation have any events or fundraising initiatives planned for Gumboot Friday? If so, share with us your latest activities or initiatives to support Gumboot Friday on 1 November.

Everyone who shares their updates by emailing isla.anderson@tcdc.govt.nz by Thursday 24 October will be entered for a chance to win a pair of I am Hope Gumboot Friday gumboots.

Gumboot Friday, founded by mental health advocate Mike King, provides free counselling for any young person in New Zealand aged 25 and under. With an overworked, underfunded, and under-resourced public mental health system, young people needing urgent help are often forced to wait far too long. Gumboot Friday offers a lifeline to these young people, giving them access to counselling when they need it most.

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Matarangi dune planting

Last week, Coastcare and the Matarangi Dune Restoration Group teamed up with a group of young environmentalists to help protect the dunes. They gathered at the Matarangi Village Green to plant native back dune species, which play a crucial role in supporting the wildlife that inhabits the dunes. The group planted Meuhlenbeckia and Sand Coprosma, both of which provide food and habitat for native fauna. Additionally, logs and driftwood were strategically placed to create shelter for skinks and insects that thrive in the dunes.

“The young tamariki also had the opportunity to learn about tracking cards and the footprints left behind by wildlife in the back dunes,” says our Coastal Restoration Coordinator, Andrea Whitehead. “It was a fantastic day, and the enthusiasm of the parents and their children was truly inspiring.”

Clearing up coastal misconceptions

Recent discussions in our community have brought to light a crucial issue: the role plants perform within coastal dunes. There has been a lot of online debate about the role of non-native flowers like daisies, so we spoke to environmental experts and respected conservationists who have explained how native plants have essential roles for both coastal resilience and as important habitat for our native wildlife.

While non-native plants might be visually appealing, they do not offer the same ecological or resilience benefits that our coastal native species do. In fact, they often disrupt the delicate balance of coastal ecosystems, at times increasing coastal erosion, and making it harder for native plants and animals to survive.

Jacob Dexter, Biodiversity Sites Lead at Waikato Regional Council, highlighted the need to create and maintain habitats for native species within back dune areas. “We encourage coastal communities to ‘think like a skink’ and support efforts to rewild back dune areas,” Dexter said. “Native lizards and other fauna have specific habitat needs that many non-native plants, including mown lawns and household gardens, simply cannot provide.”

Our Council is collaborating with Coastcare volunteer groups to enhance back dune areas by planting native species that provide food and shelter for local wildlife. These efforts are part of a broader strategy to ensure that New Zealand’s coastal fauna not only survive but thrive.

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The latest from our Libraries

Thank you for joining our District Libraries during the October school holidays. We had a fantastic time crafting and creating across eighteen drop-in activities throughout the district, and it was great to see hundreds of eager participants take on our Escape Rooms in Thames and Tairua. A special shoutout to Wild Wood Mini Golf for sharing their fun hole-in-one design at the Mercury Bay Library – we had a whale of a time!

Our libraries' regular term-time events will be back over the next two weeks. Don’t forget to check our What’s On Guide for upcoming activities and keep an eye on the Facebook page here for details on the next big event, Halloween!

Project Updates

Emergency preparedness workshops