Te Whau Coastal Esplanade walkway close to fruition

$391 000 Closer to Fruition: News received earlier in the week that Rodney Local Board was providing sufficient funding to complete the walkway between Goodall Reserve at Snells Beach and Dawsons Landing provided volunteers an enormous morale boost, which probably helped ensure the day’s planting took less than the two hours allotted. Pictured conversing are walkway stalwarts June Turner and Peter Caccia-Birch, partly obscured by Cimino Cole. image Chrissy Henley

A cloudless winter’s day in mid-July helped 20 Mahurangi locals get 750 plants in the ground on Te Whau Coastal Esplanade.

The planting is the latest in a series of restoration activities achieved by volunteers in the six years since a strategic 2.7-hectare council purchase at Dawsons Landing provided the potential for a key harbourside walkway.

During the next couple of years the 1.5-km coastal track between Goodall Reserve and Dawsons Landing will undergo a transformation, improving access for a wider variety of users and ensuring parts of the track in sensitive areas have minimal impact on the environment.

Work has begun to remove dangerous trees and walkway construction, seating and signage will follow. Continued restoration of the coastal edge will be led increasingly by the community. Goodall–Te Whau Committee chair June Turner said locals have been looking forward to this project being actualised for the past six years:

We are extremely grateful to the Rodney Local Board, Auckland Council’s local sports parks, north, department and sustainable catchments programme for funding this project. And special thanks to the 20 volunteers for coming out to plant this year.

June said being involved in community plantings is so rewarding because of the quick growth of the plants that dramatically changes the landscape:

The reserve has gone from plain grass to beautiful native bush in a few years—something for future generations to enjoy.

Te Whau Coastal Esplanade provides a gentle sheltered route dotted with mature kōwhai and vitas of the upper Mahurangi Harbour. It can be accessed from the eastern end of Goodall Reserve, from Cornel Circle or Dawsons Landing.

For further enquiries phone June Turner on +64 21 172 3899 or email rjturner@maxnet.co.nz