News

We’re excited to have Gary, our new Reserves Facilitator, join the Greenhithe Community Trust eco team.  Many of you may already know Gary from his longstanding commitment to the community.  He’s been involved with the Greenhithe Indoor Bowling Club since 2014 and has been volunteering at Wainoni Park since 2020.  Gary has also been volunteering at Kaipātiki Project since 2012, in their native plant nursery.

Gary holds a certificate in Horticulture, which included completing a native restoration project, an experience that helped deepen his passion and practical knowledge in ecological restoration.  With over a decade of hands-on involvement in conservation, Gary brings a wealth of experience and enthusiasm to the role.  We’re benefiting greatly from having him join the team.  

Gary is supporting our volunteer mornings in our reserves, and helping out with the Backyard Nursery Project.  He’s keen to share his knowledge with volunteers and help ensure these projects are a success.  Welcome to the team Gary!  If you see him out in the reserves, at a volunteer session, be sure to say hello!

Volunteers in Greenhithe made a meaningful impact on the local environment over the past year, contributing more than 3,910 volunteer hours toward caring for green spaces and supporting biodiversity.

Their efforts led to significant achievements across several key areas. A total of 7.2 hectares underwent pest plant control, helping to protect and restore natural habitats. In addition, 2,500 trees were planted, contributing to a greener and more sustainable environment.

Community involvement remained strong, with 165 events held throughout the year. These events brought people together to support environmental initiatives and raise awareness about conservation.

Work also included addressing local wildlife challenges, with 1,373 predators caught as part of biodiversity protection efforts.

These accomplishments highlight the dedication of the Greenhithe community in creating a real and lasting difference. Their work is a powerful example of what can be achieved through collective action.

Those interested in getting involved are encouraged to get in touch:

• Nicola: gctnicola@gmail.com
• Louis: gctlouis@gmail.com
• Gary: gctgary@gmail.com

Caring for Greenhithe’s environment—be part of it.

They have captured your attention – as they do for a large number of children aged one to four (and their caregivers) every week at Mainly Music.

Lyrics and melody resound from the walls of the hall at No. 12 on Monday mornings – echoing across Greenhithe. These upbeat and action packed sessions encourage movement, dance and singing, and often unexpected but delightful exercise for those of us of “older years” as we match the energy of the children with us.

But the action all appears to come with ease for Alethia Smit, who holds the weekly get-togethers and truly kicks off the week in a bright and positive way.

She explains how she got involved with Mainly Music through her church.

“I have also been a dance teacher for 25 years and love working with children and toddlers. It’s my God given talent to work with children and teach them through music and movement.”

She lists the myriad of benefits as including: Social event for mothers to meet new friends, Boosts child IQ, Sensory development, Expands communication and imagination, Improves Literacy, Emotional Development, Improves Coordination.

With an average of 13 families per week who come along, there becomes a combination of cultures who share memories and dreams for their tamariki.

“We love to share with each other.”

And Alethia would love to share this opportunity with all the little ones of Greenhithe.

Pop along to Number 12 – 9.30am Mondays.
Contact alethiaschoolofdance.002@gmail.com

The lovely Marie Bishop is retiring at aged 84 from her Neighbourhood Support role in Greenhithe. She has been in the role for over 7 years and has been a wonderful asset to our community. She has done an amazing job running weekly International Friends and our Neighbourhood Support database and regular newsletter. Also Mainly Music and plenty of other things. We had a lovely party for her where she launched her book about her life story mid-year.

Greenhithe Community Trust has engaged Suzanne Piper about 10 hours each week to take on the Neighborhood Support role. We are all enjoying getting to know her. She and Marie have overlapped their roles for a few weeks.

Meanwhile our beloved Marie is still local so it’s not a full goodbye, just a morphing as she steps back.

Congratulations to National’s Cameron Brewer, our new Upper Harbour Member of Parliament. And commiserations to outgoing Labour’s Vanushi Walters who served our electorate well the past 3 years.

Cameron Brewer is currently a self-employed communications consultant. He served as an Auckland Councillor for two terms from 2010 to 2016 and on the Rodney Local Board from 2016 to 2019.

Before being elected to Auckland Council, Cameron was the chief executive of the Newmarket Business Association for over five years, where he advocated strongly for local businesses, and led projects to revitalise Newmarket’s town centre and improve security for retailers.

Born in Hawera, Cameron has a Bachelor of Arts from Massey University, Palmerston North.

Dubbed New Zealand’s youngest publisher at the time, Cameron established and ran a community newspaper in the 1990s called Inside Otago, before selling it to a business investor. He then worked as a press secretary in the National Party’s parliamentary research unit and Leader’s Office.

Cameron has lived in Auckland’s northwest for seven years. On the Rodney Local Board, he was chair of the Transport, Infrastructure and Environment Committee.

During his six years as an Auckland Councillor, Cameron was the chair of the Council’s Business Advisory Forum and Chair of the Planning and Urban Design Panel. He also served as deputy chair of the Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei Reserves Board.

Cameron has a daughter and two sons.

(This information and image was taken from Cameron’s website)

Kia ora koutou

Planting season has begun!  Over 1300 native plants have already been planted in reserves around Greenhithe, with more being planted each week.  Planting native plants helps improve the biodiversity, benefitting our native wildlife, and mitigate against the impacts of climate change.  Join one of our regular volunteer groups this winter to join in with the planting fun!  By the end of the planting season nearly 4000 native plants would have been planted around our reserves in Greenhithe.

A special thanks to Michelle & Grant Beach from Barfoot & Thompson Greenhithe who have been keeping our volunteers well fed by sponsoring a sausage sizzle at our planting events.

During May we also undertook some monitoring – putting out chewcards to see what pest animals are around, and we also undertook some 5 minute bird counts in a number of reserves.  Monitoring is important as it helps to show us how the work we are doing is influencing native wildlife (we hope to see increased numbers and species of native birds across our reserves), and how our pest animal control methods are tracking (are rat/possum numbers low or high).

We’ve recently changed our email addresses.  You can now contact Nicola on gctnicola@gmail.com and Louis on gctlouis@gmail.com.

Check out the latest issue – click on the cover:

Check out the latest issue – click on the cover: