A QE2 covenant has been placed on Bullock Creek Hatchery Springs wetland, which is owned by Otago Fish & Game.

The covenant has been put in place to protect the wetland from future subdivision, encourage native revegetation and protect the habitat and spawning areas of freshwater fish.

Otago Fish & Game chief executive Ian Hadland said the covenant would help protect the two-acre wetland.

“The QE2 covenant on the area provides for improvements to the wetland values so the clearing of weeds and the ongoing revegetation project with our partners Friends of Bullock Creek and the Department of Corrections will continue,” he said.

“The covenant also helpfully provides for the community’s enjoyment of the area through a public access easement which Otago Fish & Game Council had registered on the title in 2017.” 

Ian said wetlands associated with freshwater springs were rare enough, but having them in an urban setting was unique.

At the local wetland an underground aquifer, thought to originate from the Cardrona Valley, percolates out in high volumes from beneath a terrace off Stone Street.

The gin-clear spring water is the headwaters of Bullock Creek and was once the site of a fish hatchery due to its pure water quality and steady volume.

“It’s an amazing sight as the spring water accumulates at the lower edge of the wetland and within 200 metres the headwaters of Bullock Creek is nearly too big to jump across,” Ian said.

Otago Fish & Game is membership-funded and Ian said those game bird and fishing licence funds were put at work to protect the environment “not just for sports fish, but for indigenous species as well”.

“That’s not new for us but we are particularly proud of protecting this natural asset in perpetuity.”

He said without the plant restoration work at the wetland, the QE2 covenant wouldn’t have happened.

The plant restoration work has been coordinated by former Fish & Game officer Paul van Klink and more than 6,000 volunteer hours from Friends of Bullock Creek and Department of Corrections community work parties had gone into it.

“By removing exotic trees and weeds, and replacing them with almost 8,500 native plants since 2016, this has created the space for the QE2 Covenant, which we are pleased will protect this wetland from development.”

PHOTO: Otago Fish & Game