Trust jubilant to have land back

Josephine Brown, Melissa Paul, Moana Crawford, Jesse Crawford, Phyllis Ratima, and Henare Ratima. Members of Tutira Ahu Whenua Trust.

An area around Lake Tutira will be returning to its "jubilant Maori land owners" when a 50-year, rent-free lease expires on January 1.

Public will still be able to use the land and lake bed owned by Lake Tutira B7 and B19 Ahu Whenua Trust at the northern end of the lake, said chairman Henare Ratima.

Their vision to restore the area will mean access is restricted when the trust begins to remove willow trees in the area, and return the lake to its "pristine water quality".

Public access would be restricted for safety reasons, and Mr Ratima said that afterwards the public would be able to use the land as they always had.

Mr Ratima said they did not have an exact time frame for how long the work would take.
He said: "It's not about excluding people, it's about letting them know we're here."

The trust said they wanted to know how the public felt as they too had grown up with the lake and seen it deteriorate.

To restore the area the trust planned to place a rahui over the northern end of the lake, remove grass carp, eliminate the lake bed of hydrilla weed and restore the wetlands with native flora and fauna.

The previous leasee Fish and Game's acting manager Andy Garrick said they were unclear what the trust's intentions were in terms of access. He said he applauded the trust's initiative in restoring the lake.

Mr Garrick said they looked forward to working with other parties to improve the lake.

The change in ownership wouldn't affect the Department of Conservation campground at the southern end of the lake, said DoC operations manager Dave Carlton.

Mr Carlton said the trust's vision for the lake was great but he thought they needed to talk with other stakeholders in the area.

"The lake's been in a pretty strange state for decades, and it's been a big focus for all users to look at how we restore it.

"[Land owners] are actively trying to restore the lake - we're all working together.
"The lake itself is going to take a while to recover."

Guthrie Smith Trust Arboretum curator George Christison said as they only used the southern end of the lake their usage wouldn't change.

"We don't go down that end of the lake ... if the access changes or is denied it will just affect a small amount of fishermen."

He said the trust's vision was the same as all the land owners and stakeholders in the area.

"Anything that can improve water quality up there will be a benefit, it's been an issue for hundreds of years."

Mr Ratima inherited sections B7 and B19 when he was nine, and the land was leased when he was 16.

The 65-year-old said he had grown up knowing the area was his family's and was jubilant they could now do something about the lake environment.

Fellow trustees Josephine Brown and Melissa Paul said they had felt frustrated but "that's a mild term".

"We're sad about what's happened over the years."

The algae in Lake Tutira had resulted in warnings against swimmers entering the popular lake on multiple occasions, the most recent in November.

Hawke's Bay Regional Council asset manager open spaces Steve Cave said a whole combination of things had contributed to the lake's current state.

"Over 150 years it has degraded with a lot of sentiment going into the lake over that period ... it's going to take a while to turn it around."

He said progress was being made on improving the lake's water quality.

"If we can get alignment then huge progress can be made ... the road to success is everyone working together."