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Press, Volume CXIII, Issue 33189, 31 March 1973, Page 1

About 25 members of Christ-, church Ecology Action • will spend several hours; today cleaning the Heathcote river bank on the south-west side of the' Ferry Road bridge. At present the area is littered; with rubbish of all tynes, [ and it has been used as I a dump for many years.] There had been complaints! to the Christchurch City] Council that the area was I an eyesore, the president; of the organisation (Mr R. McDonald) said yes-] terday. Ecology Action had decided on the project because] it realised that the river] in this area held consid-' erable recreational po-] tential for the city in] the years ahead, he said.! Mr McDonald said that a; paper road ran along the] river bank, and there! was also a paper road! which ran from the southl side of Ferry Road, about' 100 yards west of the! bridge, to meet the river! bank reserve about 200; yards upstream of the; bridge. The group intended to use; these roads—one of! which was at present; blocked by a locked gate—during its cleanup, he said. Mr McDonald said that the public was generally not aware that these paper roads—to which they had access as of right—existed. The importance of them in this case was that they provided access to the river itself, he; said. The river was now almost] free from pollution, he! said, and soon the public) would wish to make extensive use of it for[ swimming, boating, and; fishing. A director of the Environ-] mental Defence Society.) Mr B. K. Williams, said; yesterday that his organ-] isation supported the) efforts of the Ecology) Action group. His society planned to approach both the Christchurch City Council and the Minister of Lands (Mr Rata) to seek increased provision for public access to the I Heathcote River, Mr Williams said. He said that the society,! which had been in existence for more than a year, was an incorporated body with a mem-[ ; bership of lawyers, law--I students, and scientists. | | The society aimed to protect the environment through legal action and re- [ search, he said. The picture shows, from left, Mr A. Hutchison (a member of Christchurch Ecology Action), Mr McDonald, and Mr A. Macbeth (committee memher) behind the gate yesterday.