Kāpiti Mayor K (Guru) Gurunathan makes a point at the meeting on Sunday
An enthusiastic meeting of 75 local residents has unanimously backed a proposal to keep in public hands the land which is the entranceway to Kāpiti.
About 450 hectares of land are expected to be declared surplus by the New Zealand Transport Agency in the coming year, after the completion of the Transmission Gully motorway.
The proposal comes from a community-led Kāpiti group, working with local iwi, and is called “Wainuiwhenua”.
Meeting chair, and co-chair of the Wainuiwhenua Working Group, Jenny Rowan, says “This is a once-in-lifetime opportunity to secure these lands for future generations, strengthen our community, and support the Kāpiti economy. It’s also a powerful partnership between the township and Ngāti Haumia ki Paekākāriki.”
The proposal was put before a public meeting in Paekākāriki on Sunday. It envisages a package of public uses on these lands, based on environmental protection and restoration and also including provision for social and community housing and a small wind farm.
The land runs from the top of the escarpment to Queen Elizabeth Park, and is about five times the size of the Paekākāriki township.
“The risk is that this land could end up on the open market and be developed as lifestyle blocks, based on the current district plan.”
Instead, the community meeting endorsed a vision of streams and wetlands restored to health, and a recreational hub which would attract visitors from all over the region. Within that overall vision, there is also scope for small areas of housing, parks, gardens, and electricity generation via wind turbines.
The proposal is still in its early stages and will develop through public involvement over the next year. For now, the focus is on keeping the land in public hands so the environmental and community directions can lead the future. For details see www.paekakariki.nz/wainuiwhenua
Funding will need to come from a range of public agencies – as there are many public uses, so contributions would be sought from many agencies. KCDC’s role would be first to help the community group with investigating the proposal and then coordinating various public agencies.
Community ideas are right now being called for in an online survey www.surveymonkey.com/r/wainuiwhenua which closes Friday 29 November.
The proposal will go before the Community Board on Tuesday 3 December. The Board will be asked to endorse it, and send it on to the District Council. The Council will be asked to join with the community group to investigate the feasibility of the proposal.
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