Work starts on Te Mata bike tracks

Bruno Chambers says the information centre has not been forgotten. PHOTO/FILE

Hawke's Bay's "free gym", more commonly known as Te Mata Peak, is reaching new heights under its most recent developments.

The Te Mata Park Trust has been trying to raise $4.3 million to establish an information centre in 2015.

The small team of volunteers on the trust only have time to climb one mountain at a time though and, for the moment, they are focusing their efforts on the new walkways and cycle tracks at the park.

Trust chairman Bruno Chambers said the plan had not been forgotten but the mountain bike initiative was taking up a majority of their time.

"We're all volunteers and so there is only so much time we can donate to this project, as we all have other jobs," he said.

Mr Chambers said the trust had been in consultation with Jeff Carter, a leading mountain bike designer, who travelled from Rotorua.

Mr Carter said he was excited about the mountain bike track.

"I think it is fantastic that Te Mata Peak is enabling mountain bikers to use it." He said the mountain bike track would bring more visitors to the area.

"Te Mata Peak is an iconic attraction for the region and if the track is high quality it will become a national attraction."

The track will eventually have two entrances to the park. One begins at Waimarama Rd and the trust is finalising with landowners and council members for the connection that will go into the back of Havelock North. Mr Chambers said the trust had a positive meeting with the council to discuss the way forward for the track.

He said that, while the trust received no annual council funding, the council had been very supportive towards projects that will benefit the community.

"What is special about this track is the panoramic and landscape peaks, which make it unique and parallel to none.

"It's Hawke's Bay's free gym," he said. Mr Carter said his mountain bike track construction company, Southstar Trails, had been working on the Te Mata Peak tracks for just over a week now.

Mr Chambers said the project completion was dependent on fundraising, as the trust needed around $150,000 in total for the tracks. He said the information centre was still being worked on and the trust planned to stick to the aim of beginning to build next year.

"We're still progressing, slowly but steadily. We are in the process of making a community funding campaign to garner support for the project."

The information centre fundraising campaign still has $1 million to raise before building can get under way.