Dave Fitzjohn is supposed to be retired but is probably busier than he has ever been in his working life, as the project manager and chair of the Lincoln Envirotown Trust.

Lincoln Envirotown runs a variety of activities, from planting and maintaining the Mahoe Reserve and the Lincoln Community Garden to running the Responsible Business Network, Predator Free programmes and numerous school workshops and competitions.

The 74-year-old from Greendale initially got involved as an assessor for the Responsible Business  Awards but soon found himself knee-deep in the Envirotown community.

Fitzjohn explains that he basically retired when he embarked on a world trip 10 years ago to sort out his mother-in-law’s estate in the UK.

“But when I got back, I found retirement was probably the worst thing that could ever happen,” laughs Fitzjohn.

“After three months of pretending that I enjoyed the garden, I was just really lucky that this role came up to assess businesses for the Responsible Business awards. That’s how it started.”

Fitzjohn has had a natural affinity to conservation after watching wildlife and the bush getting decimated while growing up in Kenya.

“I spent most of my youth in wild open spaces. We could go camping and you didn’t even have to be in a game park and the elephants would just wander past. And I could see it just all disappearing, especially in the later years that I worked there,” says the Greendale resident.

“I feel incredibly privileged to have grown up like that, but I have seen how quickly it can go downhill if you get the wrong government with bad policies; poachers were just mowing down the elephants. Thankfully subsequent governments in Kenya have done a lot better and the situation is improving.

“But that made a big impression on me and is definitely a motivation for me to work in the conservation space.”

Fitzjohn studied in England to become a teacher where he worked for a few years, before taking up a position in Kenya as a school administrator.

After 12 years back “home”, his young family decided to embark on a new adventure in Singapore, but Fitzjohn says “you can’t stay on the overseas circuit forever” and his two daughters needed to settle in somewhere.

“The choice was between the UK and New Zealand and because we had visited the South Island and liked it a lot, we ended up in Selwyn, first renting before we bought a lifestyle property in Greendale.”

Fitzjohn says he could hardly believe the large piece of Selwyn paradise he could purchase for the same price of a small flat in England.

“The kids loved growing up in Selwyn with all that space around them, with little lambs running around and I got a lot of enjoyment watching them getting involved in different outdoor activities.

“But I do miss not being able to walk around the corner for a carton of milk,” laughs Fitzjohn, who discovered that after years in school administration, his classroom skills got a bit rusty.

“I initially took a job at a local high school, but I was useless. I was basically de-skilled and it stressed me out, so I needed to get out.”

He changed careers and worked first in the warehouse then in an administration role with Nevada Sport in West Melton until his retirement.

Instead of taking it easy, the energetic “part-timer” is now busier than he has even been.

“Thankfully, we have lots of volunteers and there are also two permanent part-time coordinators. Meredith Jones, our overall coordinator, runs our social media and everything else that comes her way. I do the easy stuff leaving her to do all our work and Ruth Wood who does so much in our Community Gardens”.

Once Fitzjohn starts talking about the range of activities Envirotown is involved in, it is hard to stop the teacher-turned-conversationist, who speaks with enormous pride and passion about all the people involved in the programmes.

He is particularly proud of the young people taking a leading role in many of the events, like the Kids Science Craft where Lincoln High School students design and lead fun science activities for primary schools.

“It is great to see that the young people initiate the events, and we just support them, like a recent audit of rubbish along the riverbank, which only cost us a few pizzas.”

Lincoln Envirotown continues to do maintenance and bio-blitzes at Mahoe Reserve, during which students find as many life forms as possible, and organise weekly working bees or school workshops at the Lincoln Community Garden, as well as running the Responsible Business network and biennial awards.

“We try to get businesses to talk about things like improving their packaging or how they can reduce their power use, which are always great discussions.”

The list of events continues to grow, with the Waste Art Competition, Clothes Swap, Repair Cafes, workshops on setting traps, growing vegetable, building worm farms and creating better soil.

“We also organised a battery recycling drive at the local supermarket, which collected over a tonne of batteries in eight months. It shows you that people want to do the right thing, but you just have to give them the opportunity.”

Fitzjohn has no intention of slowing down because Envirotown gives him a reason to get out of bed each day.

“An Irish guy once told me: “Dave, if you find the job you like, you will never work again.” First I thought ‘what is this idiot talking about?’, but now I understand. I do a lot of hours, but I never work.”

Last modified: 04 Sep 2025 2:18pm