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Friday 12 November 2021
Cycle revolution on a roll
Wheels turning: Bikers check out the new East Tākaka to Paines Ford cycleway following last Saturday’s official opening ceremony. Photo: Rosa Volz. ROSA VOLZ
Perfect conditions greeted an army of cyclists at the opening ceremony of the Paines Ford to East Tākaka cycle path last Saturday. Convening at the East Tākaka Rd end of the track, the group was treated to morning tea and speeches before the ribbon-cutting and inaugural cycle. “Good things take time,” say Wouter de Maat and Phil Castle of the newly completed path. Their sentiment is confirmed by local farmers and landowners Jamie and Andrea Ward, who have moved fences on their land to ensure the path could be completed. “It’s great to share it [our land] with the public and to share an up-close view of our rural farm,” says Jamie. The Golden Bay Cycle and Walkways Society (GBCWS), of which Wouter and Phil are founding members, was formed in 2006. Retired pharmacist Wouter explains that the primary objective of the GBCWS was to “build off-road cycle tracks for public use”. Their original vision was “to create a continuous cycle track from Waitapu Bridge to Upper Tākaka, following the Tākaka River.” Development started eight years ago,
and has involved thousands of volunteer hours, community funding, highly supportive l a n d ow n e r s a n d t h e D e p a r t m e nt o f Conservation – not to mention a group of unsung heroes who maintain the path. “We thought that we would start the easiest bit first – south from Paines Ford”, says Phil, “but it was harder than we originally thought.” The difficultly is that the whole area floods over two metres [up and] over the track. In addition, there are a number of long deep creeks that need crossings built, and the crossings had to comply with Tasman District Council (TDC) guidelines. The 3.8-kilometre-long track was completed in three stages, with a head start gained by using the existing DOC track running from Paines Ford to the oxbow wetlands bend. This section starts with a 60-metre boardwalk crossing the wetlands (part of the main Tākaka River bed until the early 20th century), before continuing parallel to the river to a prominent bend. This was a slow section to build, powered by “hours and hours of brutal work” by volunteers, who needed to build edging and aggregate on a very sandy soil. After completing this section, the society
recognised that they would need to raise funds to pay for labour and for services, such as digger drivers. The second section, running from the bend for 800 metres, relied heavily on the digger to excavate the pathway by 1.5 metres. Stage 2 stopped at the “little stream” (unofficially called Tawa Stream). The third section was delayed by five years as the society reached an impasse with TDC on a bridge crossing Tawa Stream. Wouter says the key issue debate was “handrails or no handrails”. Handrails are required by TDC, but will cause the bridge to be destroyed when the river floods. The issue was resolved when the Ward family donated a strip of land (which will be repurposed for public use as “an esplanade strip”) joining the track with East Tākaka Road. The Wards moved fences at their own cost. Wouter says their “support has been phenomenal. Without them, this would not have been possible”. GBCWS is a society with a charitable trust status and has received funding, donations and volunteerism from a variety of sources. Funding has been applied for and received... Continued on page 2
November’s meeting of the Golden Bay Community Board convened on Tuesday morning at Tasman District Council’s Service Centre in Tākaka. As has become the norm, TDC staff and members of the board were physically present, while the public and other contributors participated via Zoom. Public Forum Victoria Davis started the ball rolling by criticising the vaccine rollout, saying that there had been “a lack of a proper trial” for the jab. She counselled against “blindly following overseas experts” and urged people to question the dominant narrative. Referring to the 30 per cent of the Bay’s eligible population who had not yet received a first dose of the Pfizer vaccine, she said, “I think it would have been more if they hadn’t been coerced into taking it”. She made a plea to the board. “Don’t be a cheerleader for big pharma selling an experimental procedure,” before suggesting that “Golden Bay should be leader not a follower…”. During a discussion later in the meeting TDC councillor Celia Butler responded to Victoria’s challenge. “The time has come when local government needs to support the [Government’s] health initiative because Covid affects the community,” said Celia. “But, not intending that the community board should take a lead.” TDC’s proposal to extend the Pōhara campground lease has stirred up some interest in the community. Tony Lawton expressed concern about the narrow scope of the current consultation as well as the lack of information concerning other potential uses for the property. “There may be a better use for the site”, said Tony. “The campground is the only council-owned commercially-zoned land in Pōhara; we need to look at alternatives.” He questioned whether the increased revenue that TDC was anticipating from the new lease arrangements would benefit the Bay, and was concerned about safeguarding public access. Tony made a case for considering long-term factors such as changes in local tourism market. “We are moving away from low value to high value tourism as part of the Government’s strategy.” He also suggested that the campground could be repurposed to reflect anticipated demographic changes. “Pōhara is a fast growing area. A lot of executives will be working from home and Pōhara is very desirable.” Continued on page 2
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