All Terrain Park breaks new ground

A lush new all-terrain park near Rotorua is bringing the community together to create a multi-adventure park with a sustainable outlook.
The TECT All Terrain Park on Pyes Pa Rd opened in December and covers 1650ha of bush and forestry land. It is 27km from Rotorua, or about 30 minutes by car.
The park provides a space for activities such as mountainbiking, walking, horse riding, target shooting, motorcycling and motorsports.
The Western Bay of Plenty District Council and the Tauranga City Council bought the land in 2004 after they realised there was nothing to fill the gap between small local parks and Department of Conservation reserves in the area.
The vision of the park is "to successfully establish and facilitate a regional destination that caters for a wide range of adventure and education activities in a managed and sustainable way".
The name comes from Tauranga Energy Community Trust, which contributed $3.5 million towards the project.
The park is run by two Western Bay of Plenty Council staff, live-in park ranger Jarron McInnes and manager Ric Balfour, who is based in Tauranga.
Mr Balfour has a lot of experience in recreation and forestry, having worked on similar projects for 19 years in Oregon, in the United States, and holds a master of science degree in forest resources.
He said this type of all-terrain park was unprecedented in his experience.
"I haven't seen anything quite like it."
He said a lot of progress had been made since work started three years ago.
The park was a community project, and people were needed to help get it going, he said.
"It's not 'we'll build it, you come'. I think this park has the potential to show we can work together."
Members of community and activity clubs are already using the park.
Many volunteers have been involved with the project, including students from around the world coming to get experience in forestry.
"We're heavily reliant on volunteers," Mr Balfour said.
The eco-friendly aspect of the park is evident with tables made from trees cut down to make way for a road.
Corporate groups have also visited the park to do planting and team building.
Ecological reserves are planned for the park, and Mr Balfour said there would eventually be a native forest corridor. About 20 per cent of the park is native bush, but there are plans to increase that to 25 per cent.
An open day is planned for October 29.
TECT All Terrain Park is on Pyes Pa Rd between Tauranga and Rotorua. The park is open from 8am to 6pm in winter and 7am to 9pm in summer. The park is launching a website www.tectallterrainpark.co.nz.