Recreation area planned
Plans are being made for a new recreational area with native trees to be created on the Waipawa side of the Tukituki River, once a major tree-felling operation is completed.
The Rotary Club of Waipukurau will soon finish felling 2.5ha of pine trees next to the river, stretching from the end of Ford Rd to the Tukituki Bridge on SH2.
Planted on Hawke’s Bay regional council-owned land 25 years ago, the club is milling the timber to provide a five figure donation to the $1.5 million multisports turf currently under construction on the other side of the river at Russell Park.
The regional council’s flood control scheme team leader, Martina Groves, said once the milling operation had been cleared, the council would begin planting native trees.
“It’s in the river berms, so we have to establish new native trees for flood protection,” she said.
But after that, she said the council would look at how to repatriate the area, with plans to create a recreational area incorporating the nearby Rotary pathways, which are popular with walkers and cyclists.
“The plan is not set in stone just yet, but we will clear the area first and then see what else we can do to make it a recreational area,” she said.
Rotary club president Pat Portas said the tree felling was going very well, and his club was keen to be involved in the replanting and any future plans for the area.
“We have a meeting set up with the council in the next couple of weeks, once the logs have been removed and the operation has finished, discussing what we are going to do with that area,” he said.