Hikurangi residents submit proposal for Gomez Rd land after sports park controversy

Miriam Ritchie (third from right) and other members of Friends of Gomez, on the Gomez Rd land. Photo / Supplied

A group of Hikurangi residents who stopped a noisy sports park being built 10 years ago have submitted a proposal to the council for walking tracks on the land.

But they are aware of another proposal submitted to Whangārei District Council, which spurred them into action on their own idea for a passive recreation area.

Friends of Gomez (FOG), a group of residents living near Gomez Rd, have asked the council to put in walking tracks, as well as revegetate the land and start pest control.

The land has remained undeveloped since 2012, when a proposal for a $4m sports park with stock cars, karts and motocross racing as well as 4WD and gun clubs, was shot down following residents' objections.

Miriam Ritchie, local resident and member of FOG, said little had been done in the years since, and the council had not approached them about further plans for the land.

"We were just relieved that the enormous sports park got canned - those were really hard times for the residents of Gomez."

Ritchie said FOG's proposal focused on building walking tracks, revegetation and pest control.

She said it was being proposed "with the hope to make it an education facility where school students can come and learn about revegetation projects and trapping".

The trapping would be done with the assistance of the Northland Regional Council, Ritchie said.

"We haven't got our traps yet but we've been accepted to have them."

The group presented the proposal to council last week after they showed interest in the group's ideas.

FOG wants walking tracks to be built on the Gomez Rd land. Photo / Supplied

"We had a meeting back in November and they were really interested in what we were talking about then."

There is also a proposal from the Hikurangi Business Association to use the land for trail rides, which Ritchie said has given the residents "a push along".

"They're coming from a different angle and saying they're going to start small and add things and that's really scared us because we know what the objective was last time."

The association is asking to use the land for quad bike trail rides several times a year.

"Last time, it was going to be seven days a week from 7am to 10pm, which is basically waking hours, which would be completely unliveable," Ritchie said.

A spokeswoman for the Hikurangi Business Association (HBA), which put forward the proposal, said they had reduced the scope of the activities included after consultation with residents.

"The archery and mountain bike tracks - we have put in a possible suggestion in the proposal that they could be looked at at a future time."

After a recent meeting with the public, the HBA decided to put in a statement of intent that a committee would be formed involving residents before any activities were added.

The council approved funding to prepare a resource consent which would be required for the trail bike rides, including a traffic management plan and noise assessment.

The spokeswoman said the association had wanted to have trail rides, raising money for local community groups, on the land for many years.

The current HBA proposal involved using just one part of the land, accessed through privately-owned farms, for the rides, she said.

HBA chairman Cory Haslam said the public meeting last week went well and "the majority of the attendees were positive about the project".

Public feedback on the trail ride proposal was still encouraged, and residents could email this to admin@hikurangi.co.nz, he added.

A spokeswoman for the Whangārei District Council said information on the proposals would be presented at a council meeting in September, but a decision would not be made at the meeting.

For feedback on the FOG proposal, people are invited to email FriendsOfGomez1@gmail.com.