One of the five preferred options was to cut funding for the maintenance of regional parks and to stop the council’s annual contribution of $120,000 to the Te Mata Peak Trust for three years.
Te Mata Park Trust chair Mike Devonshire said the huge growth in use of the park requires more money, not less.
The trust recently met HBRC chair Hinewai Ormsby and chief executive Dr Nic Peet and pleaded with the HBRC Environmental and Integrated Catchments Committee to increase funding to $240,000.
“We’ve been blindsided by the HBRC’s preferred option to pull funding for Te Mata Park - the jewel in the region’s crown,” Devonshire said.
“There’s no way we can lose $120,000 in funding. We already need to try and find a third of our yearly operational funding, and this loss would mean we need to try and secure over 60 per cent of our operational funding elsewhere. This is a huge ask. It would be a backward step and unbundle all the investment that has gone into enhancing the park.”
He said cutting Te Mata Park funding will have a minuscule impact on rates and he believed ratepayers and all 184,000 residents would support investing less than $1 each annually to protect the park.
Te Mata Park Trust chair Mike Devonshire says the loss of funding will et Te Mata Park back by a decade. Photo / Damon Harvey
“At the current HBRC funding level, it’s 65 cents per resident per year to look after the park to its current standard and we think it should be $1.30, which will cover the cost of two full-time maintenance contractors.”
Without funding for regular maintenance, Devonshire said health and safety within the park would become a higher risk and the trust may need to consider closures.
“You only need to look at what happened with the cyclone. It had a huge impact on the park with many trees destroyed but we had the financial ability to quickly do some work clearing tracks and reopen in five days.”
Hinewai Ormsby, chair of Hawke’s Bay Regional Council, said council welcomes feedback in the 3-Year Plan consultation starting Monday, 15 April, “on their preferred option and views.”
“No decisions have been made until we receive submissions through the consultation process that runs 15 April to 15 May. After that the council will hold hearings and then debate the options and make decisions,” Ormsby said.
Bayden Barber, chairman of Ngāti Kahungunu Iwi Inc and former Te Mata Park trustee, said the regional council had a cultural and social responsibility to protect and enhance Te Matā, Te Mata o Rongokako, Te Karanemanema o te Mata o Rongokako.
“As a community, we are called to protect our maunga [mountain], preserve its wild beauty, and ensure it is maintained as a sacred place for generations to come,” Barber said.
