Sustainable alternative for new deck
The “boardwalk” that may look like the Bakerman Cafe development is one of the Te Hiku Revitalisation projects and is progressing well by the OS Group. The new deck, constructed out of a new sustainable alternative, will be hugely beneficial to users of the cafe with the outdoor area coming off their back door as well as public entrance off the paved drive. A new fence is being installed with some landscaping to soften the edges. There will be balustrading installed to prevent people slipping into the river.
The pump track has now been completed by Velosolutions and the groundwork has been done by FNR to blend in with the reserve and has just had grass seed put on. This will need a few weeks to establish. Northscape is working on applying tiger turf to the inside spaces. At the same time the foundations for the next two cultural artworks are being poured and installed by OTO Construction. We are hoping to have an opening/blessing for the pump track and cultural artworks on Saturday, December 17.
Hopefully the palisades upcycled from the Unahi Wharf with their Corten design tops from High Voltage Custom Metal Art will be in place and lit up by Kinetic Electric Kaitaia in the coming weeks.
This week umbrellas will go up over the planter box seating in the Market Square and over the stage under construction. A reminder — this project is going to slowly evolve.
Once complete the line markings will be redone so they line up, are away from the planter boxes with new accessibility carparking included. There are some disgruntled people making negative comments but they are not aware of the complete picture.
The loop path has now had the solar bollards installed by Laser Electrical, the seats/benches and rubbish bins installed by Recreational Services, and we have contributed to fixing the slip in conjunction with KCL and NRC to ensure the pathway is not compromised. We’re waiting for the outdoor exercise eqipment to be installed to complete this river walk project.
The last project to construct is the Kaitaia Town Square. This is in the hands of Arcline in consultation with the waharoa artist BJ Natanahira and representatives of the project working group. Other projects under way but not installed yet are the new Kaitaia welcome sign at the north end of town, the bus shelters in Ahipara and Awanui and completion of the market square, due to all be installed at the end of January because of supply delays.
We have officially come to the end of the project in terms of the budget but we have some installation delays so February will see the end of the contract.
This is our last column for the year so keep safe over the festive season and we’ll be back with an update at the end of January. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all!