Expertise sought for Pou Tu O Te Rangi Pa / Harding Park Management Plan

Kaipara District Council has called for Expressions of Interest to prepare a Reserves Management Plan for the Pou Tu O Te Rangi Pa and Harding Park reserve in Dargaville.

Council notified its intention to prepare a plan last December and called for public suggestions over the summer. These, together with onsite investigations already completed by Council will help identify the issues to be addressed in the plan.

Community Spaces Manager Stephen Soole says the Council has been talking about Harding Park and Pou Tu O Te Rangi Pa for a number of years over ways to improve the public’s experience of the area, while maintaining and enhancing its historic and cultural connection to both the immediate area and wider district.

“We have been getting pretty consistent messages regarding the need for improved signage, picnic and recreation areas, better public usage of the Park along with better connections of the various historic and cultural values of the area and a co-ordinated approach by the various interest groups in the Park. We need a Reserves Management Plan that addresses all of these issues across the reserve area in an integrated way, and we need to get the right skills on board to do that planning.”

The plan will detail the work that needs to be undertaken in the Harding Park reserve area, including the Pou Tu O Te Rangi Pa site and the old Mount Wesley Cemetery. Once completed, the draft Reserves Management Plan will be released for public submission under the Reserves Act 1977.

“We want to get this right,” Stephen says. “We want to find a way forward that retains and protects all that is special in Harding Park while providing for the things that allow a growing number of residents and visitors to enjoy what the area has to offer. Harding Park is already a very attractive area. A Reserves Management Plan will ensure a co-ordinated approach to the future development of the park and its surrounds while protecting and improving the historic experience and nature of the park for all to enjoy.”

The reserves are administered by Kaipara District Council and preparation of the management plan is being co-ordinated by a committee comprising representatives from Kaipara District Council,
Te Uri O Hau, Dargaville Museum and the Harding family.