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Hearings on the Te Muri Management Plan are expected to be held next month.
Hearings on the future of Te Muri Regional Park have been delayed to let a local group gather more information about a proposed walkway to link the park to Wenderholm via a bridge across the Puhoi Estuary.
The 382ha park lies between Wenderholm and Mahurangi Regional Park and Auckland Council is creating a plan to develop the land for public use.
Council has proposed a multi-million dollar plan to create vehicle access from State Highway One, but many people want to see the park’s sense of isolation retained.
More than 380 submissions were made on the plan in January and February and hearings were scheduled for April/May.
But, Council has delayed the process and is working with the Mahurangi Coastal Trail Trust on its submissions to develop pedestrian access to the park.
The trust’s proposal includes a 400m, S-shaped footbridge across the estuary, with a swing bridge in the centre that could open to allow boats and yachts through.
It has commissioned a landscape architect and a coastal consultant to provide a high-level engineering assessment of the proposal.
Trust member Cimino Cole says they are now planning to launch a national crowd-funding campaign to fundraise for the project. The trust recently met with Adam Gardner and Duane Major. The pair recently raised $2 million in a Give-a-little campaign to buy an Abel Tasman beach for the public.
“After seeing their campaign we decided we need to look seriously at crowd funding and we need to get the public behind the project,” Cimino says. “Adam and Duane are looking to support coastal access around the country, so making Te Muri accessible was much to their liking and they would like to support the campaign.”
Hearings are expected to be held next month and more than 100 people have indicated they wish to speak at the hearings.
An independent commissioner will hear submissions and make recommendations to Council’s Parks, Recreation and Sport Committee, who make the final decision.
“We are optimistic the commissioners will recommend the coastal trail as the first cab off the rank,” Cimino says.
