Work underway on park building

WORK has started on a multi-purpose building at the Totara Reserve Regional Park in the Pohangina Valley as development of the popular camping-picnicking spot gathers momentum.

The building, on the Camp Rangi Woods side of the park, will incorporate toilet and shower units as well as an office-information centre and replace the current ablution block.

Boxing for the building has been laid in preparation for some back-filling with gravel and the concreting of the foundations and floor. The project is expected to take two months, depending on the weather.

Manawatu District Council Parks and Reserves Manager, Albert James, said the building would help cement the changes already carried out at the reserve and give a lift to that side of the campground.

“With all the stopbank work and plantings now completed, and extra power sites installed, it’s beginning to look like a proper camping ground - though still retaining that wilderness look.”

Horizons Regional Council’s Biodiversity and Water Quality Manager, Alistair Beveridge, said the building presented “hard evidence” that development at the park was ongoing, as opposed to other beneficial projects not easily seen such as weed and animal pest control and track clearances.

“This is bright and shiny and a physical thing that we can point to. It will certainly make a difference and is a major milestone in making Totara Reserve the place we want it to be.”

Mr Beveridge said the building needed to be solidly constructed to withstand a large number of people using it and the possibility of vandalism.