Happy trails and tails at Timona Park
A growing network of trails at a Feilding park is getting wags of approval from dogs, and their walkers, but the paths are only a portion of an ambition spanning 14 kilometres that could loop much of the town.
Work is expected to be completed within the next fortnight on a limestone walkway that snakes along Timona Park’s western boundary before curving across to Simon St.
It is the latest in a number of improvements encouraging more diverse activity at the reserve, and Manawatū District Council’s parks and property team isn’t stopping there.
Community assets manager Carl Johnstone said the ‘‘ultimate goal’’ was to extend the walkway to Nelson St, connecting to the trail to Waughs Rd Bridge, then continue along the Oroua River, behind the treatment plant to Kitchener Park and the Rata St walkway, then back to Timona.
It would provide walkers, runners and cyclists with 14 kilometres of trails.
‘‘We need to have a few discussions with property owners to make that happen.’’
Johnstone said the walkways were about creating connections between different areas of Timona Park, linking the park to other reserves, and helping steer pedestrian movement away from the road and sports fields.
The new path would connect to the track built in 2020 that ran parallel to the Oroua River.
Extending this path from the BMX track up to Nelson St would be the next section tackled once funding was confirmed.
John and Irene Whittaker lived nearby and visited the park most days with Poppy, a 3-year-old poodle bichon cross.
‘‘The dog hates the sun, so we love it,’’ said Irene of the shaded trail.
‘‘It’s a neat place to come. You’ve got the trees here, but you’ve also got the wide, open spaces.’’
There was also some hope the walkway may keep Poppy on the straight and narrow.
‘‘She loves to roll in things. She once rolled on top of a dead hedgehog. Oh God, [the smell] was horrific.
‘‘If we could have made her run home beside the car we would have.’’
Kay Cobb, from Wainuiomata, and her two ageing poodles, George and the three-legged Benji, were also enjoying the pathway yesterday. She visited Feilding whenever her motorhome needed work. ‘‘This will be my first time using the walkway. I really love this place,’’ she said.
Timona Park has come a long way in the past five years.
Where there was once a wall of noxious weeds separating it from the Oroua, the clearing of gorse and blackberry now makes the river an attraction – particularly for the steady stream of motorhomes parking up.
Johnstone said there had been a motorhome boom since Covid-19, with more Kiwis eager to explore New Zealand.
Early on campervans were ‘‘all over the show’’ at Timona Park but there was now a more contained area for them, away from pedestrians, assisted by a New Zealand Motor Caravan Association planting programme.
The limestone for the walking trails has been funded by the Oroua Catchment Care Group.