Opinion: A few things need to happen to make Ōtaki Lake a huge asset

Ōtaki Lake.

A landlocked lake with enormous potential needs to be enhanced and protected, writes Ōtaki Community Board's Shelly Warwick.

The Ōtaki Lake is a beautiful man-made lake nestled on the north side of the Ōtaki River, just east of the Ōtaki River bridge, which most locals would never have laid eyes on. Why?

Because it is landlocked. Access is only through the Winstones Quarry and on the river haul road off SH1. The lake is what has been left over after consent was given to Winstones Aggregates to quarry a section of Greater Wellington Regional Council (GWRC) land for metal.

Now that Winstones has finished quarrying, we need to look at the end use for the lake and get Winstones and our regional and district council's on board to develop it to its full potential for the future.

What has been left behind from the quarrying is a beautiful lake, in a beautiful setting that has the potential to become not just a local, but a regional asset, if it is cleaned up, has good long-term access and is developed to support sports clubs and recreation.

The lake has been used for many years by local waka ama and canoe polo clubs, both of which have achieved amazingly on the national and international stage, probably, in part due to access to such a great training ground.

But access is a huge problem. The problem: there is no formed vehicle access. Access is only possible when the quarry is not in operation, and only for a selection of entities.

These clubs are lucky to have limited access times, but equally other local clubs such as the surf club do not have access, and may benefit as well from having this training ground.

Also, our local secondary schools could use this lake for outdoor education training. Imagine the waka ama club, canoe polo, surf club and others being able to hold regattas and competitions here in Ōtaki. Supporting not just their clubs but local business as well.

Otaki Māori Racing Club has facilities close by that could be utilised for such events which would support our wonderful racing club in what is hard times for the racing industry.

There has been a generous offer of land by a local that will provide an opportunity for a cycleway, walkway and bridleway (CWB) to be developed at the end of Te Roto Rd that will connect to the Peka Peka to Ōtaki (PP2O) expressway track that comes off the new Ōtaki River bridges, and link to our wonderful river tracks that support CWB leisure. But this will not provide vehicle access.

Ōtaki Lake.

Our current Kāpiti councillor to GWRC got funding across the line in the last Long-Term Plan for a management plan for the lake, however with no firm plans for vehicle access there has been very little movement with this. What council would invest time and money in a project with no access?

But there is a solution. There is a paper road (unformed legal road) running through the Ashford Park quarry in Te Roto Rd, legally owned by Kāpiti Coast District Council (KCDC), which can link onto GWRC land and give permanent guaranteed access to the lake for all users.

We, the ratepayers, own this paper road and there has been push from locals, including myself, to open and develop the paper road to the public for access to the lake. But it has fallen on deaf ears. The people of Ōtaki, and the Kāpiti district need to require that KCDC and GWRC develop this access and we need to not take no for an answer.

This lake has the potential to be the Karapiro of Ōtaki and the Greater Wellington region. It could support recreation and provide opportunities for many local clubs if there was public access. Waka ama, canoe polo, surf club, swimming clubs as well as our schools and family leisure and swimming.

But before this happens Winstones now need to be a good commercial citizen and clean it up and get it fit for a new purpose beyond quarrying.

A mission I'm sure with their long standing in Otaki, and the benefits the company have gained from our whenua, they would be happy to have an active and financial part in.

They need to provide beaching so it complies with NZ water safety standards, help develop it into its best form to support and maximise its future use by the community by extending the lake to a competition length, and remove the silt they have dumped on the west end of the lake that has led to the natural filtering of the lake being compromised and causing it to be cloudy instead of clear.

All achievable for this company who is in right game to see this to completion.

It is time for the people of Ōtaki to ask for the lake to become our playground, retire it from its commercial state and for the key players like KCDC, GWRC and Winstones to return it to the community as an asset that will benefit us now, and for future generations.

It is time for KCDC and GWRC to develop this asset for our town. As a community board member I, and others, have been very active in seeking commitment from KCDC to use the paper road to provide safe long-term public access, but to no avail.

Now is the time for others to start to require action too, many voices can't be ignored. Come on Ōtaki and Kāpiti, ask our councils when you will be able to utilise this wonderful lake.