Currently the Te Henga quarry park (or Waitipu-Waitākere Quarry Park ) is closed. In April-May this year (2022) there was feedback requested on how to go about restoring the land and reopening the site as a local park for public use.
WRPS strongly supports developing the water catchment area within the quarry park as a wetland for the following reasons:
- There are two semi-connected wetlands within the Waitipu-Waitākere Quarry Park at the head of Te Henga valley. A short section of Waitipu Stream flows through them.
- Te Henga is one of the most significant natural wetlands in Tāmaki Makaurau, supporting further health and extension of it makes absolute sense, and the restoration of the Waitipu-Waitākere Quarry Park/Te Henga Quarry Park is an opportunity to do that.
- More wetland area would provide a valuable function in filtering out sediment from the stream as it flows downstream to Waitākere River, Te Henga wetland, and onto Te Henga beach.
- The wetlands are dominated by raupō. The two pools within the quarry have varying amounts of raupō-dominated wetland vegetation on the edges.
- Raupō has a regional IUCN threat status of endangered.
- Raupō reedlands and wetland habitat supports a diverse range of native birds including: pāteke (brown teal), mātātā (fernbird), Koitareke (marsh crake), pūweto (spotless crake), moiweka (banded rail), kāhu (harrier), matuku-hūrepo (Australasian bittern).
- Matuku-hūrepo are under threat of extinction due to the extensive loss of their wetland habitat and ongoing pressures such as predation. Their national population has sharply declined. This species is now ranked as Nationally Critical (the same threat level as kākāpō).
- WRPS strongly supports considering the Waitākere Stream catchment as a whole. This principle supports wetland development.
- WRPS strongly supports ongoing weed and pest control and monitoring.