Te Arai development parkland a gift to all

Auckland Council has been gifted 196 hectares of prime coastal land by Te Uri O Hau and Te Arai Coastal Lands Limited (TACL) as part of a landmark development plan at Te Arai.

Rodney ward Councillor Penny Webster says the agreement to vest the land in council will ensure ongoing public access and protection for this significant stretch of the east coast.

“Te Uri O Hau has been working towards this plan for its ancestral lands for many, many years and we are delighted that an important part of its future includes protecting the significant landscape, conservation and recreation features of iconic Te Arai beach.

“This land joins the existing council-owned headland park to become a 283 hectare regional park, which council will care for in perpetuity.

“Importantly, it will create public open space linkages between Pakiri Beach and Mangawhai Heads – a total of 21 kilometres of white sand beaches and magnificent headlands,” she says.

Auckland Council’s Manager of Regional and Specialist Parks Mace Ward says planning for the new park will involve creating special areas for protection of shorebirds, a native revegetation plan and dedicated recreational areas.

“Te Arai is home to threatened native bird species, including New Zealand dotterels and fern birds. Planning for the new park will ensure that these shorebirds have a safe area to thrive.

“Dune restoration and revegetating the pine forest with native plantings will get underway in the early stages of park development.

“Walking tracks and mountain bike and horse trails will also be part of our planning – all of which the public will be able to provide input into,” he says.

Public access to the new park is likely to be ready in 2016-17 following the development of a park management plan and in alignment with the neighbouring subdivision development.

The wider development plan for Te Arai includes a new golf course and two rural residential areas. This will sit behind at least 200m of reserve land on a 5.2km coastal stretch.

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