On Monday the 29th of March 2021, Chris McGregor from QRS came to Whangawehi to provide some advice in regards to the much it would cost to upgrade the carpark. QRS will provide a couple of options (metal and seal) for this small but important project.
A big thank you to Chris who has moved from WDC to QRS but remains a great supporter of the community initiative. Thank you to Bevan Parker from Pongaroa Station who is allowing us to conduct this work.
On Monday the 29th of March 2021, Jeff Carter from Southern Star Trails met with Pat O’Brien (Chair of the WCMG) and Nic Caviale (Project Coordinator) to inspect the walkway.
The track is nearly formed up to the hut and the gravelling work will start next week. The digger will carry out a few repairs on its way back to the Whangawehi car park to tidy up the area. The gravelling operation will be long and challenging due to the weather but the team is experienced and uses specialized equipment that should make the work safer and faster.
A big thank you to Southern Star Trail for their work.
On the 26th of March 2021, Vaughan Goldsmith, Civil Engineer at WDC came to have a look at options for the small car park to be developed in front of the Waharoa.
A big thank you to Vaughan for making the time to come to Mahia and provide some advice.
On Friday the 19th of March 2021, the Southern Star Trails team was only a few hundred meters away from the Hut on Taharoa. The digger work has been delayed by the wet weather. By the end of March the track should all be formed and compacted. The long and challenging next step will be to lay the aggregate. We cross our finger and hope that the weather is going to hold.
It is a delight to read an article of the Whangawehi walkway in the Living Hawkes Bay magazine (March 2021 Edition). A big thank you to all the group’s members who have helped, the walkway will be gaining soon a national profile.
The opening ceremony is not confirmed yet but we are looking at a date sometime in late April. We will keep you posted.
Enjoy the reading :
On Wednesday the 10 th of March 2021, the Mahia RMPP group gathered at Pat and Sue O’Brien’s to learn more about Carbon. This workshop is part of a series of events funded by Beef and Lamb NZ with the idea of supporting local community groups in their endeavor to achieve a community (farm related) vision.
Bryan McKinley and Scott Saunders from Eastern Forestry came along with Duncan Harrison from MPI Gisborne to share their knowledge around the vast and ever changing topic of Carbon.
The group learned a lot about the risks and opportunities associated with Carbon trading and also better understood the wider legal context around the mitigation of green gaz emissions.
We thank our guest speakers for their time and hope they can be more involved at a later stage.
On the 19th of February 2021, WCMG had a zoom meeting with Predator Free 2050 to discuss a possible way forward. At this stage PF 2050 is not willing to support an accelerated programme on Mahia Peninsula and will revisit a possible partnership in the next few weeks.
A big thank you PF2050 for the work they have done so far.
Please find attached an article published in the Wairoa Star in February 2021.
Enjoy the reading
On the 1st of March 2021, Southern Star Trail started gravelling the Whangawehi walkway. First a special membrane is laid on the ground and the gravel spread over it. The gravel is then compacted and rolled. The finish product looks really nice. Southern Star Trail use a purpose made trailer towed behind a small tractor to ferry the gravel up and down the walkway. It is going to be a long process and we hope that the work will be finished before the end of April.
While the graveling is underway, there is still 800 m of track to open below the hut.
A big thank you to Southern Star Trail for the quality of their work.
Whangawehi Catchment Management Group 