New path joins three facilities
A section of old fence has been demolished to make way for a wider pathway linking the Arts Junction, the playground and Western Bay Museum.
The fence behind what was Western Bay of Plenty District Councils old Katikati Area Office and library has been on the community and Western Bay Museum agenda for a couple of years.
Council’s Reserves officer Wayne Allchorne has been working with the Katikati Community Board for some time to come to a solution for the area.
Staff met on site with Community Board Chair Jenny Hobbs, Katch Katikati’s Jacqui Knight, Museum manager Paula Gaelic and deputy mayor Mike Williams — to come up with a plan. The final solution was made with the addition of $4000 funding from Property Service and the balance from Reserves funding, and Fotheringhame Contractors supplying labour and materials at a good rate.
The solution was to do it in two stages. Stage one of the project was cutting and clearing a wider pathway between the museum and the Arts Junction. Fotheringhame Contractors foreman Jake Segerstrom said it had been a “wicked” project, seeing what it was and what could be made of it.
“It’s all turned out better than what we thought.”
Jake and his crew worked on site for almost three days clearing and laying paths and concrete. He said one day it started raining.
“We had a fountain in the middle of the path which was not ideal.”
He said they extended a pipe that was already there and installed rocks and concrete to keep it from getting cleared out by water in future.
Jake said he didn’t realise how much the toilets and the path were used.
“This was a horrible area and people used it. Now it’s a nice area, you can see the river, which was quite wasted, and it’s a nice backdrop for the playground.”
Paula agreed. She was delighted with the work done and said the view from the pathway has opened up Katikati’s history.
“The Kaimais, the river are all significant.”
Working with Bay of Plenty Regional Council and the Uretara Estuary Managers she hopes to extend the natural garden further in the future.
Jenny Hobbs has planted flax behind the section of fence still in place behind the Arts Junction. Stage two of the project will be removing all the green fence once the flax has become established.
The estimated final cost of the project will be around $7500.