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Totara Park control finalised

Wednesday 4 July 2012, 12:29PM

By Manawatu District Council

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MANAWATU-WHANGANUI

FULL control and management of Totara Reserve Regional Park, the popular recreational attraction in the Pohangina Valley and managed by Manawatu District Council for more than 20 years, has been transferred to Horizons Regional Council.

The changeover took effect from the beginning of this month after the legal process had been completed and the MDC’s operational work wound to a close.

MDC Community Services Group Manager Brent Limmer said council had been easing out of its involvement with the park over the past two years and had, in collaboration with Horizons, finished removing a number of old steps and a climbing wall and repairing some bush tracks.

“The regional council has obviously been heavily involved in all of that,” he said, “ever since it started contributing funding to Totara Reserve after the floods in 2004."

He said the new arrangement was a win-win all round as the community would continue to get a well maintained park because the regional council, as the significant funder over the last few years, had far greater resources to put into it than the MDC.

“It is really a regional facility in the sense that it benefits all the ratepayers in Manawatu and Palmerston North city and can become a real regional attraction.”

Mr Limmer said he hoped Horizons would be able to further promote the use of the park as there had been some excellent work undertaken in recent years to enhance the reserve’s attraction.

“It provides a very popular summer camp environment and is going from strength to strength.”

He said adjoining Camp Rangi Woods also added to the park’s overall appeal.

“The transfer is the end of an era as far as the MDC is concerned, but the park has done the rounds of various councils’ management over the years and it seems fitting it’s gone to Horizons now because it is a large asset that has the potential to provide a real regional focus.”

Horizons’ Environmental Manager Bill Martyn said the council had enjoyed working in partnership with MDC and was really looking forward to the opportunity of taking on the reserve.

“One of the main benefits of the handover is that the park can be placed under a long term sustainable management regime,” he said. “We look forward to managing and developing all of the park’s attributes for the benefit of the community, in particular its recreational, educational and ecological opportunities.”

* Details on site bookings for Totara Reserve Regional Park are available on 0508 800 800 or by visiting www.horizons.govt.nz