Arbor Day planting in Queen Elizabeth Park last year.
Arbor Day planting in Queen Elizabeth Park last year.
Weekly column by Kāpiti's Greater Wellington Regional Council representative Penny Gaylor.
Given the significance of Queen Elizabeth Park to the Kāpiti Coast community I'm encouraging everyone to contribute to the discussion about the future of GWRC's regional parks network by getting involved in consultation on our draft Parks Toitū Te Whenua Network Plan, 2020-2030.
The Draft Plan sets out a blueprint for the development of Greater Wellington's network of eight regional parks. At its core are three key areas of focus: recreation, conservation and community participation in parks restoration and development.
As my colleague and parks portfolio leader councillor Prue Lamason says, "This is very much a community owned plan.
"As part of its development, two years ago we asked the community what it loved and wanted from regional parks.
"The response, from the more than 350 people and organisations that spoke to us, was loud and clear: they loved having a wide range of landscapes across the network, and wanted strong management of the natural environment, active control of pest plants and animals that threaten habitats and easy, all year public access to and within parks."
I totally agree with Prue, and I've seen the commitment of people right across our district to our local 'regional' park.
And now we want to hear more from you, and fine tune this plan to get it right for the future.
The plan's vision of 'restoring healthy ecosystems for the benefit of people and nature' resonates with the new name for the plan, which means 'the land remains', it's enduring.
Penny Gaylor.
The core goals at the centre of its proposals relate to building positive partnerships with mana whenua, working closely with community groups to get things done, valuing cultural heritage features and landscapes, enhancing the recreational experience, protecting and restoring our natural heritage and managing parks sustainably in the face of climate change.
Setting and meeting clear goals is important as, since the last plan was developed in 2011, new challenges to the network have emerged.
The community is now far more aware of the importance of conservation and restoration.
The climate is changing more rapidly than predicted and severe weather events have damaged parks.
Opportunities for greenhouse gas sequestration in parks have been identified.
Recreation activities have diversified and some, such as cycling and running, have exploded in popularity and need to be catered for.
The plan is a composite statutory management plan for eight Regional Parks totalling approximately 33,000 hectares of public land: Akatarawa Forest; Battle Hill Farm Forest Park; Belmont Regional Park; East Harbour Regional Park; Kaitoke Regional Park; Pakuratahi Forest; Queen Elizabeth Park and Wainuiomata Recreation Area.
Once the plan is finalised, detailed master plans will be developed for selected parks, setting out how they will be managed over the next decade.
Members of the public can have their say on the plan, which can be found at haveyoursay.gw.govt.nz/parksplan or by email to parksplanning@gw.govt.nz.
