Kennedy's Bush Scenic Reserve is a public

conservation reserve A conservation reserve is a protected area set aside for conservation purposes. Conservation reserves by country Australia In South Australia, a conservation reserve is a type of protected area declared under the ''Crown Land Management Act 200 ...

in the

Port Hills The Port Hills () are a range of hills in Canterbury Region of New Zealand, so named because they lie between the city of Christchurch and its port at Lyttelton, New Zealand, Lyttelton. They are an eroded remnant of the Banks Peninsula Volcano ...

south of

Christchurch, New Zealand Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over half a million. It is located in ...

. It sits above the suburb of Kennedys Bush on the northern side of the hills, just north of Ōrongomai / Cass Peak. The reserve is covered in dense native bush, and at it is the largest remaining patch of native bush on the Port Hills.

Ecology

In 1906 a survey found 96 species of flora in the reserve. Today the reserve still contains a wide variety of

native species In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often popularised as "with no human intervention") during history. The term is equi ...

of plant. These include ferns, grasses, trees and climbing flowers, as well as and some threatened species including native speargrass,

kānuka ''Kunzea ericoides'', commonly known as kānuka or white tea-tree, is a tree or shrub in the myrtle Family (biology), family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to New Zealand. It has white or pink flowers similar to those of ''Leptospermum'' and from its ...

, rōhutu, and

tōtara ''Podocarpus totara'' (), commonly known as the , is a species of Podocarpus, podocarp tree endemism, endemic to New Zealand. It grows throughout the North Island, South Island and rarely on Stewart Island, Stewart Island / Rakiura in lowland, ...

. Native birds are present in the reserve, including korimako, riroriro,

kererū The kererū (''Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae''), also known as kūkupa (Māori language#Northern dialects, northern Māori dialects), New Zealand pigeon or wood pigeon, is a species of pigeon native to New Zealand. Johann Friedrich Gmelin describ ...

, and

pīwakawaka The New Zealand fantail (''Rhipidura fuliginosa'') is a small insectivorous bird, the only species of fantail in New Zealand. It has four subspecies: ''R. f. fuliginosa'' in the South Island, ''R. f. placabilis'' in the North Island, ''R. f. p ...

Tūī The tūī (''Prosthemadera novaeseelandiae'') is a medium-sized bird native to New Zealand. It is blue, green, and bronze coloured with a distinctive white throat tuft (poi). It is an endemism, endemic passerine bird of New Zealand, and the on ...

were also present during the early 20th century. Pest control has been ongoing in the area as far back as 1920, when more than 4000 rabbits were trapped in the area. Multiple agencies and community groups have been working to eliminate pest animals in the reserve since the 1990s. Pest species include

rat Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents. Species of rats are found throughout the order Rodentia, but stereotypical rats are found in the genus ''Rattus''. Other rat genera include '' Neotoma'' (pack rats), '' Bandicota'' (bandicoo ...

feral cat A feral cat or a stray cat is an unowned domestic cat (''Felis catus'') that lives outdoors and avoids human contact; it does not allow itself to be handled or touched, and usually remains hidden from humans. Feral cats may breed over dozens ...

mustelids The Mustelidae (; from Latin , weasel) are a diverse family of carnivoran mammals, including weasels, badgers, otters, polecats, martens, grisons, and wolverines. Otherwise known as mustelids (), they form the largest family in the suborder Can ...

and

possums Possum may refer to: Animals * Didelphimorphia, or (o)possums, an order of marsupials native to the Americas ** Didelphis, a genus of marsupials within Didelphimorphia *** Common opossum, native to Central and South America *** Virginia opossum, ...

History

The area was originally owned by Thomas Kennedy from 1856, who harvested timber from the forest. Beginning in 1900

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

Harry Ell Henry George Ell (probably 24 September 1862 – 27 June 1934), commonly known as Harry Ell, was a Christchurch City councillor and a New Zealand Member of Parliament. He is famous for his conservation work around Christchurch's Port Hills, hi ...

began a campaign to preserve access to walking tracks and the remaining remnants of native bush on the

. In 1903 he was instrumental in getting the Scenery Preservation Act through

parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

. In 1906 with a subsidy from

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Richard Seddon Richard John Seddon (22 June 1845 – 10 June 1906) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 15th premier (prime minister) of New Zealand from 1893 until his death. In office for thirteen years, he is to date New Zealand's longest-ser ...

and some additional fundraising, he was able to purchase of the bush and release it as

Crown land Crown land, also known as royal domain, is a territorial area belonging to the monarch, who personifies the Crown. It is the equivalent of an entailed estate and passes with the monarchy, being inseparable from it. Today, in Commonwealth realm ...

. The remainder was acquired by the Scenery Preservation Board after 1908 from landowners including

Heaton Rhodes Sir Robert Heaton Rhodes (27 February 1861 – 30 July 1956) was a New Zealand politician and lawyer. Life Rhodes was born in Purau on Banks Peninsula, the son of sheep farmer and politician Robert Heaton Rhodes. He went to England to attend ...

. There was a fire that destroyed of the native forest in 1931, though it mostly only damaged the fringes of the forest. The reserve contains a number of walking tracks, and is accessible from the Crater Rim walking track. In 2023 a carpark and lookout was opened in the reserve on the south side of Summit Road, opposite the Sign of the Bellbird, with a cost of . The reserve avoided sustaining major damage during the 2017 Port Hills fires.

Management

Since 1947 the reserve is owned and administered by the

Christchurch City Council The Christchurch City Council (CCC) is the local government authority for Christchurch in New Zealand. It is a territorial authority elected to represent the people of Christchurch. Since October 2022, the Mayor of Christchurch is Phil Ma ...

, despite technically being outside of Christchurch City.

Sign of the Bellbird

had a vision of a road along the Port Hills, with tea rooms at regular points for visitors to rest at. The first of these was a stone cottage at the top of Kennedy's Bush, which was finished in 1914 and opened in 1915. Designed by

Samuel Hurst Seager Samuel Hurst Seager (26 June 1855 – 5 October 1933) was a notable New Zealand builder, draftsman, architect and town planner. He was born in London, England, in 1855, and as a boy emigrated to Christchurch, New Zealand, with his parents ...

, it was built from red stone quarried on location. The first caretakers were the Potters, and then the Wilsons from 1915. Ell initially named the resting place ''Orongomai'', which is the te reo Māori name for

Cass Peak Ōrongomai / Cass Peak is a hill in the western Port Hills in Christchurch, New Zealand. Its most notable feature is a radar dome that was built on the peak in the late 1980s, which is used for aircraft positioning services. Geography Cass Pea ...

. In 1922 the location was renamed to be the ''Sign of the Bellbird''. The buildings were the site of a post office and telephone bureau until 1922. Ell died in June 1934. The buildings were abandoned in 1942. By the mid-1940s it was in a state of disrepair and had been the target of vandalism. In 1947 the

took over the reserve and began to restore the buildings with a government grant. The buildings were further maintained in 1958, with a new roof built for the dining room. Some buildings were demolished and an open-air shelter for walkers was constructed using the original stone. The roof caught fire in 1967 and was rebuilt in 1971. A fire destroyed the roof again in 2015 and this was replaced in 2017.

References

Bibliography

Citations

{{Christchurch City Council Forests of New Zealand Geography of Christchurch Parks in the Canterbury Region Parks in Christchurch Protected areas of the Canterbury Region