Introduction
Rodney District Council adopted the South Head Walkway Plan in November 2008.
For a copy of the plan click here.
The plan was developed to improve walking opportunities in the South Head Peninsula. As a number of sites in the South Head area are not owned by the Council there will continue to be limitations to the level of public access available in the area.
There was extensive consultation with the local community, interest groups, government agencies and local iwi about public access issues during the process of developing the plan.
The final plan balances the expectations of local users, visitors, land owners and community groups with an interest in South Head.
Objectives
The objectives set out in the plan are as follows:
- To develop a walkway network for South Head which provides a range of opportunities for the public to experience the diversity of South Head’s landscapes and natural values.
- To ensure that the development and management of walkways in South Head is undertaken in such a way that significant natural values are protected, and where possible, enhanced.
- To provide for a range of different types of walkways for different levels access (eg. Hard surface, soft surface bush walk, poled route) appropriate to the sensitivity of different environments.
The plan sets out a long term vision for the future development of walking routes around South Head. The Plan identifies the following improvements that could be made to enhance public access to this area and enrich the experience of recreational users:
- Providing improved walking access to lakes and wetlands
- Development of a coast to coast walkway via Te Rau Puriri Regional Park, Lake Ototoa Scenic Reserve and Woodhill Forest
- Providing more walking access points to the Kaipara Harbour
- Using rangers and voluntary rangers to provide day to day oversight of the area
- Promoting some of the paper roads for walking access to reserves, waterways and the coast
- installing dog prohibition and education signage
Implementation of the Plan
The Council has yet to consider whether funding should be allocated to progress the projects in the plan. This will be considered as part of the 2009 – 2019 Long Term Council Community Plan process. Should projects be progressed they are likely to be staged over a 10 – 20 year period, with priority being given to projects identified in the Plan to be considered in the short term.
The Council is also investigating the purchase of additional esplanade reserve land around the Dune Lakes of Ototoa, Kuwakatai, Karaka and Kereta (through the subdivision consent process) to border lake areas and protect the sensitive ecology of these areas.
A further issue which is currently being investigated is the purchase of a walkway strip to another east coast Kaipara Harbour bay which would improve walking access to the coast.