Aramoana trust opens doors for public meeting about marine reserve

The cliffs of Te Angiangi Marine Reserve were left bare following a bad storm in April 2011. Photo/File

A community open day is being held this weekend for public consultation about Hawke's Bay's only marine reserve.

The Aramoana Environmental and Education Charitable Trust is appealing to the public for ideas on how to best protect and promote the Te Angiangi Marine Reserve, on the Central Hawke's Bay coast.

Trust general manager and Department of Conservation (DOC) marine ranger Rod Hansen said the consultation meeting gave everyone a chance to come together and discuss the marine reserve in the Aramoana Woolshed this Sunday.

"We're just consulting with the community about things we can do to improve the trust and what we can do out there. It's quite good really.

"It's a real opportunity for people to get together, bring some ideas and find out what we actually do and who we are."

Formed around seven years ago, the trust was established to promote environmental education with an emphasis on the Te Angiangi Marine Reserve and Ouepoto Reserve.

The public meeting comes after the cliffs of Te Angiangi Marine Reserve were left bare following a bad storm in April 2011, when 550mm rainfall and a 4.6 earthquake caused them to collapse.

At the time it was feared the landslips may have altered the landscape of the marine reserve forever but great progress had been made to restore the area, which was now home to many species of birdlife.

"Since [the storm] we've put a walkway through the Ouepoto Reserve so we're hoping to vegetate that and get it all planted up.

"As we speak Menz Shed in Napier are building us a bird hide so you'll be able to go down the walkway, walk out to the bird hide and have all the interpretation and some holes you can look through to see different species of birds along the coast," Mr Hansen said.

Sunday's public meeting was a call to the wider community to help fuel progress in the area, he said.

"The reason we chose Sunday was because being a long weekend we wanted people from all over the district who are out there along the coast; Napier people, Hastings people, Wellington people and even Auckland people."

The meeting will hear from guest speakers Central Hawke's Bay Mayor Alex Walker, Hawke's Bay Regional Council chief executive James Palmer and local landowners.

The meeting will start with a morning tea at 9.30am and finish with a barbecue lunch at 12.30pm in the Aramoana Woolshed on Aramoana Beach.

Mr Hansen said the meeting was open to anyone and feedback and ideas were welcomed.