Up to 30 locals turn up each day to help with the project. Photo / Grant Harnish
Up to 30 locals turn up each day to help with the project. Photo / Grant Harnish
A long-neglected corner of Paihia is getting a whole lot of love thanks to a huge volunteer effort and an anonymous $100,000 donation.
The southern end of Paihia’s main beach has until recently boasted little more than a toilet block, a filthy stormwater outlet, poor lighting and a reputation forlate-night deals and unsavoury activity.
That’s all set to change thanks to the 100K Project — named after the size of the mystery donor’s gift — now under way by the community group Focus Paihia.
So far the group has cleared a privet-infested hillside, installed a children’s slide and a waterfall, opened up an overgrown lookout track, replaced the stormwater channel with a culvert and a picnic area, and built seating around the pōhutukawa trees.
Still in progress when the Advocate paid a visit were plans to landscape what used to be a rough car park, install picnic tables, lighting and two free electric barbecues, and build a disabled access ramp to the beach.
The exterior of the toilet block has been repainted and will soon have its pans and washbasins replaced as part of a thorough internal spruce-up.
Project driver Grant Harnish said the idea for upgrading the unattractive corner of town had been “zinging around” for a long time.
It became possible when a Paihia resident, who wished to remain anonymous, donated $100,000 to Focus Paihia and left it to the trust and the community to decide how it should be spent.
While he didn’t attach any conditions he did indicate he wanted children to benefit, Harnish said.
“Plus he didn’t want the money to be lost in a bigger project. He wanted it to go to one stand-out, stand-alone project.”
Paihia kids check out the town’s newest waterfall. Photo / Peter de Graaf
During a two-day workshop in Waitangi in January up to 70 members of the community considered a range of projects the money could be spent on. In the end they voted almost unanimously for the current beachside upgrade.
One of the aims was to drive out bad behaviour by making the area attractive to families, Harnish said.
“A lot of unsavoury activity and a lot of after-dark dealing goes on there. As David Engwicht says [an urban renewal guru who’s lending his expertise to the project], if you want to get rid of bad behaviour, you fill the area with good behaviour. Then the bad behaviour will modify, or it will find somewhere else.
“This has always been the forgotten end of town. It was time to show it a bit of love.”
Panoramic view showing the transformation of the long-neglected southern end of Paihia Beach. Photo / Grant Harnish
The new family area had been designed to tie in with Horotutu, the community-built park in the centre of town, by using the same style of seating and a water feature.
The trust was getting “huge bang for buck” by using volunteer labour as much as possible — up to 30 locals have been turning out each day to lend a hand — and donations from Bay of Islands businesses.
A Kerikeri construction firm had donated and delivered 90 tonnes of rocks, worth $10,000, for use in the waterfall and retaining wall, while a local towing firm had loaned its Hiab crane for three days so the slide could be installed. The Far North District Council was paying for the toilet upgrade.
The only complaints so far had been from a few residents who were no longer able to drive up to the stone jetty at Stockyard Pt and leave their cars there for the day while they went fishing.
The only vehicle access that would remain would be a service lane for toilet cleaning.
Six-year-old Zara Canobie-Harris tests the new slide. Photo / Peter de Graaf
However, Harnish said there were plenty of car parks on nearby Kings Rd and just a few metres away on Marsden Rd.
“It’s never officially been a car park, it’s always been a reserve. It’s for the community now.”
Two disabled parking spaces would be provided along with, if funding allowed, a beach wheelchair.
The toilets’ newly painted exterior had been tagged on the first night but the graffiti had been removed straight away and the offenders captured on high-definition CCTV.
A local towing business loaned a hiab truck so the slide could be installed. Photo / Grant Harnish
The reaction so far had been “hugely positive”, Harnish said.
“Everyone is so enthusiastic. It’s rejuvenating part of town and creating a place for families. That’s what we need to do, not leave areas for scumbags to populate.”
The project still has some weeks to go but the slide is already immensely popular with children.
Asked about her favourite feature of the new park, 10-year-old Scarlett Greener said: “I love the slide but I think the waterfall is the most beautiful part”.
Focus Paihia is aiming to have the work completed by the end of June with an official opening in spring.
Urban design guru David Engwicht travelled from Australia to lend a hand with the project. Photo / Peter de Graaf
Volunteer Troy O’Donoghue works on a guard rail along the top of the waterfall. Photo / Peter de Graaf
The new slide proved an instant hit with Paihia kids. Photo / Peter de Graaf
