Volunteer educator Robin Paul said entry to the sanctuary was free and the carpark was full every day.
The trust’s submission to the committee says a conservative estimate of annual visitor numbers is 10,500.
“We are getting quite a lot of people coming through internationally as well, and recognising what a treasured taonga we have within our region.
“Obviously, the education programme is only sustainable as long as old fellas like us here - and we’ve got to be back at the rest home soon - maintain it and keep it working.”
Fluery told the council’s aspirations and projects committee there was one paid employee at the facility - forest sanctuary manager, Mandy Brooke.
Around 6000 volunteer hours are put in every year.
Brooke said funding applications for the education programme from other sources hadn’t got across the line.
“We have made lots and lots of applications for all sorts of things, and the trust is working all the time to make this endeavour more sustainable.
It only took one rat to come through on a campervan and Brooke had to set up a whole programme to try to track it down and stop it establishing a population, Fleury said.
“We also identify the need to try and better resource the education programmes so the schools and Kurt of Whanganui and further afield can continue to enjoy the opportunity to learn in a real outdoor classroom.”
The sanctuary is requesting $20,000 per year for its education programme and $20,000 per year to support an additional ranger position.
That role would be to be partly funded by Forest and Bird New Zealand.
“We ask that you include support for Bushy Park Tarapuruhi in the draft Long Term Plan,” Fleury said.
“Ultimately, it will be the community that says whether or not they value it.”
He said for the past three years the council had included the cleaning of the Bushy Park Homestead and its gutters in its heritage maintenance programme, but that was due to stop this year.
Volunteer educator Keith Beautrais said the last time the trust had submitted a proposal, councillors were surprised at the lack of council support “for something that has become a jewel in the crown”.
“It’s rare for a provincial centre to have such a stunning, national-level asset.
“Wouldn’t it be great if we had tuatara re-introduced? If we had takahē and kākāpō that are no longer needed for the breeding programme?
“That’s something some of us can relate to - not needed for the breeding programme anymore.”
Beautrais said he commended the council’s commitment to cultural and social heritage, but a relationship with nature also needed to be restored.
“We are inspired by it [the sanctuary] every day, but we get the biggest buzz from watching our young people sit under a 500-year-old rātā tree and just go quiet.
“This is a passion that we share, and it’s a passion we want to hand on.”
Committee chairman Rob Vinsen said the sanctuary was first on the list when he hosted visitors from out of town
“I don’t think there is anybody in this room that doesn’t recognise the value of the staff and volunteers at Bushy Park.”
Mike Tweed is an assistant news director and multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present his focus is local government, primarily the Whanganui District Council.
