Two areas in mind for new regional parks

• Published date: 11 April 2024
• Author: Kiri Gillespie
• Publication title: Katikati Advertiser

Whether to investigate new regional parks is one of three central questions the council posted in the council’s draft Long-term Plan 2024-34, with public submissions open until Tuesday

It was also consulting on what it should do with its Port of Tauranga shares and how public transport should be funded.

On Thursday, councillor Stuart Crosby told Tauranga Business Chamber members the council already owned and managed the Pāpāmoa Hills Cultural Heritage Regional Park near Tauranga and the Onekawa Te Mawhai Regional Park near Ōhiwa Harbour in the Eastern Bay. This meant Rotorua and Western Bay of Plenty were left without something similar locally.

“We have an opportunity to consider two more, one in the Katikati area and one more in Rotorua,” he said.

“One is more advanced than the other.”

After the meeting, Crosby told the Bay of Plenty Times the “more advanced” area was west of Katikati and was already well connected to existing reserves.

“That one makes sense in terms of preserving [green space] … it is far more along.”

Crosby said the council was talking to landowners and the national body that supports several regional parks throughout New Zealand could not divulge further details, including specific locations, because there had been no decision to pursue purchasing the land.

Park plans for Rotorua were in their infancy, Crosby said.

This was why it was so critical to gauge how communities felt about the prospect of...