Matekai Park

Kaitake Community Board

There will be a good number of local folk who can remember when the Ōākura Pony Club ground was the village rubbish tip and the Matekai Park area was open land, where a couple of the locals used to run a few cattle.

Then forty years ago the park was established with land being purchased to create a 7-hectare reserve. It became the focus of an ongoing community planting programme to establish native and introduced trees, which attract much birdlife. 

Now the park is the significant natural area within Ōākura, supporting a vast array of both flora and fauna, and its popular trails make it a very popular link between the village centre and the beachfront. It has been an outstanding success and an absolute credit to all the hard work and many hours put in by community volunteers over the years.

Recently the KCB spent an hour or so with the council Parks team in Matekai discussing current issues and future opportunities, as they set about developing a long term maintenance plan to ensure the park remains in a healthy state. Council efforts will initially be weed control, particularly of the more invasive type such as ginger, tradescantia (wandering willie), canna lilies and palm grass. They will then look at some arborist work and to weatherproof the tracks as their budget allows.

What was a bit sad to see was some neighbours of Matekai using it as a private tip, getting rid of their rubbish by just dumping it over their back fence into the park. This is where a lot of the weeds have actually come from and to have what is really a ‘jewel in our crown’ and amazing wildlife habitat treated in such a way is saddening. 

Many such plants can grow much more vigorously than our native species and Parks staff told us that if these invasive species aren’t controlled then they will completely dominate the native species there within a generation. There was also some evidence of bike tracks now being built, which Parks will deal with. Hopefully, the potential bike park we are working on in Shearer Reserve will alleviate this sort of activity happening in the future. 

However, we did come away from our catchup with the Parks team feeling really positive and enthusiastic about this special place. Again what has been done here is a credit to all that local effort over the years.

The matter that KCB has at the top of its agenda is the review of the Kaitake Community Plan - a thirty year vision. The plan sets out the visions and aspirations of our three distinct yet connected communities: Ōākura, Okato and Omata. Each of which has played a pivotal role in the shape and identity of the wider New Plymouth community. 

The plan provides the New Plymouth District Council with an insight about the matters that are important to the Kaitake Community Board area, and where investment and action are needed. We have held focus group meetings here and in Okato and Omata, and by the time you are reading this we will have hopefully sent out a survey inviting you to respond to some key questions regarding how you see the future development and growth in our area.

It is proposed that Council Service Managers (and budget holders) will consider the community board plan in formulating their draft proposed work plans and budgets for the 2021/31 Long Term Plan. Here is the link to the plan, we certainly welcome any feedback you may wish to provide us with.

The Community Notice Board which had been outside the Four Square until John carried out his store upgrade is looking for a new home. The KCB would love feedback from the community for suggestions of where it would be best situated in the village CBD.

Well, that’s it for this second issue of TOP. The next meeting of the Kaitake Community Board will be held at Hempton Hall, Okato at 5pm on Monday 10 August.

Ka kite anō au i a kotou. 

Doug Hislop (752 7324 and douglashislop@gmail.com)
on behalf of Paul Coxhead, Paul Veric, Graham Chard and
Amanda Clinton-Gohdes who is the Councillor representative on the KCB