Blessing signals start of project

 

Riverside Holiday Park first became a campground back in 1977. Thirty years later it was in danger of being sold for a housing development, until a concerned group of campers formed a body that purchased the park in November 2007.

The board and shareholders set upon an ambitious five year program of repairs and maintenance for the park, including upgrading power pillars and electrical transformers, ablution blocks, the kitchen, and adding a key-coded access gate.

Meanwhile, one long-term project they have been working on has been the connecting of Riverside Park to the EcoCare system.

“If we look after the land, the waterways will look after themselves,” says Riverside Park board chairman Mark Paisey.

The group had been negotiating with the Kaipara District Council (KDC) to secure a contract to connect to the system, signing an agreement in December 2012.

“Many obstacles were overcome in those ensuing years,” says Mark.

A potential rates rise of 1340 percent was successfully defended, commissioners replaced councillors, new resource consents were applied for and granted.

“It was all about working towards our goal of being good environmental citizens of Mangawhai.”

Working with Hewson Planning, Lamb & Associates, and Airey Consultants, the Riverside connection team of Mark Paisey, Gordon Lamb and Warren Stott never lost focus of their objective – to protect the wildlife community.

Consulting with local Iwi, DoC, MRRA, Fairy Tern Charitable Trust, Mangawhai Harbour Restoration Society and other affected parties, consents allowed contractors to connect Riverside to EcoCare via a pressure line thrust under the estuary.

“All affected parties were amazing to deal with, the consultative process being professional and amicable on all sides,” says Mark.

On August 15, Te Uri o Hau held a blessing for drilling contractors CDS Ltd, the machinery and the holiday park, bringing the project one step closer to completion.

“The benefits to the community and the estuary are obvious,” says Mark. “No longer having the septic tanks and evaporation field within 50 metres of the estuary is something that Riverside has spent over six years striving for.”


UNDERWAY: Contractors mark the start of the EcoCare project with a blessing by Te Uri o Hau.