Todd Murphy our local digger Operator is clearing the track on the Whangawehi walkway. This work will allow our track building company to finish gravelling the track very soon. A big thank you to Todd for doing this work straight after his wedding ! Ground conditions are now dry enough for the work to resume and we hope our track building company will be on site soon to finish the work. We will keep you posted.
The Whangawehi Catchment Management Group is proud to invite you to the Opening Ceremony of the Whangawehi walkway on the 8th of December 2022.
The blessing will take place at the Whangawehi boat ramp at 11 am.
Finger food will be provided at Tuahuru Marae afterwards.
This event is a significant milestone for our community, we would be delighted to see you there.
Nga mihi
Whangawehi Catchment Committee
On Saturday the 24th of September 2022, the WCMG held its annual AGM. This gathering gave Pat O’Brien, Chair of the group the opportunity to reflect on the work done and thank all the volunteers for their ongoing support. The Committee remains the same and is looking forward to more exciting projects for this new financial year.
After the meeting, the group gathered at the entrance of the walkway to unveil two plaques.
Sophie and Kathleen’s plaques are nicely placed along the walkway for everybody to remember. They have been instrumental in the development of the project and their vision is living beyond them.
During this meeting we farewelled Kaleb from HBRC who is moving on and we welcomed Trevor Waikawa. A big thank you to Kaleb for his support for Mahia and the Whangawehi project in particular. We welcome Trevor and wish him all the best.
A visit was carried ou at the end of August 2022. Most of the remedial work done in June has worked and has prevented further degradations. However, several new slips have occurred and will need to be cleared by a digger when ground conditions are favourable. Several socks have been added to critical culverts which should reduce the amount of erosion generated during heavy rain events.
Malcolm Westerlund established in July 2022 3000 native trees at the entrance of the walkway. These trees look magnificent. We hope that they will handle the summer well as it is a very exposed site.
Several seats have been concreted in and will offer a nice rest to our visitors soon.
We are now waiting for the track building company to return and finish the gravelling work when the weather fines up.
On the 9th of June 2022, Todd Murphy from Tip Trucks Ltd started the repair work along the Whangawehi walkway. The work involved consists in re installing bigger culverts and fixing several areas that had slumped. A big thank you to Todd who has accepted to operate in not very ideal conditions. Todd will be operating during the short windows of opportunities that the climate offers. The repair work is critical as it will protect the track from any further degradations during the winter. We will keep you posted on further work coming up.
On the 26th of May 2022, Rod Dickson and Steeve Smith from the HBRC Open Space team came to Mahia to have a look at the Whangawehi project. A big thank you for their visit. Despite the terrible weather, they managed to have a good overview of the work completed so far and the challenges caused by the storms.
On the 25th of May 2022, Chris Wilson came to finalise the construction on site of some of the tables and seats. The work was slow due to the weight of the totara slabs and legs but he got there in the end. Well done Chris and thank you for your dedication. This project hasn’t been easy but the end product is spectacular.
On the 3d of May 2022, Chris Wilson, local Artist and Designer came to have a look at the progress made on the tables he had built. All the tables and seat have been delivered on site but some of them still need some work. These tables have been exquisitely crafted out of Totara timber and blend so perfectly with the landscape. Chris has taken note of what needs doing and will come back with the tools and equipment he needs to complete the work. A big thank you to Chris for his support.
On the 20 th of April 2022, Todd Murphy came to Whangawehi to assess the damage created by the last storm. Todd has got a wealth of knowledge and will get underway in May once the weather has dried up the track. The storms that have hit the walkway have obliged the WCMG to future proof the infrastructure from severe weather events by increasing significantly the size of key culverts. This has significantly increased the cost of the project.
With the heath and safety induction carried out Todd is ready to start as soon as the weather allows.
The water monitoring data shows some high levels of E Coli in several parts of the catchment. Geese have been building in numbers over time and could be responsible of this high spikes.
Whangawehi Catchment Management Group 