Longer than a country mile

The Point Wells Matakana Country Park trail route has been given the big tick by Auckland Transport – the design is now approved.

This is a huge milestone for the Matakana Coast Trail Trust (MCTT), which now has all the required consents in place to build this section of their landmark 117-kilometre trail.

“Let’s not let anyone put this in the too hard basket,” trust deputy chair Allison Roe says. Undaunted by big challenges, Roe, winner of both the New York and Boston Marathons, quotes Nelson Mandela … “It always seems impossible until it’s done.”

“Whatever we dream and believe can be achieved,” she says. “We are not building a trail network for selfish reasons, but rather, to benefit the whole Rodney community. It will provide unique access to our beautiful, natural environment; enhance health and wellbeing, and play a part in reducing carbon emissions.

“Such a viable commuter/recreational corridor is a sustainable legacy project and one which will help to improve road safety in the region, as well as grow the local economy.”

Matakana Country Park’s marketing manager Fiona Angus agrees.

“We have consent for five large scale concerts/events annually and a total audience capacity of 37,000,” she says. “It will be great if people can have an alternative to using their car, not to mention the benefits of exercise and walking/cycling being a great way to see the district.”

The park is right behind the trail project and has granted an easement to the trust for which local MCTT trustees are incredibly grateful – Roe lives at Point Wells, co-chair Aidan Bennett has a holiday home at Point Wells and co-chair Craig Donaldson’s has a bach at Mangawhai, the northern-most point of the planned world class trail.

The trust has funds of $400,000 on hand, including $200,000 from Sport and Recreation (Auckland Council), for the construction of the Point Wells to Matakana Country Park section of the trail. The total build will cost $1 million, so while there is a shortfall, this is not a reason to delay the diggers. If the whole Rodney community continues to rally behind this unique community asset, it will happen.

Philanthropy and community spirit are playing a major part in the development of the trail network. The trust is working with many stakeholders including community groups, private landowners, volunteers and local businesses, all of whom are providing countless hours of pro bono services and labour. Matakana local Meg Eriksen was recently recruited to work on sponsorship and fundraising efforts.

The trust is grateful to numerous benefactors, both public and private, whose grants and donations helped kickstart their fundraising efforts. These contributions are making a huge difference, enabling the trust to plough on with the next phase of the project.

Rodney landowners and businesses close to the trail route are also making significant contributions by granting easements across their land. They include Solway Deer Farm owner Shelley Trotter, a MCTT trustee who was only too happy to cede 4.5kms of her land to keep up momentum for the extension of the trail.

Trotter and partner Gary Heaven, who is the chair of the Mahurangi Trails Society, are the recipients of an Outdoor Access Champion Award for 2023 for their work supporting public access to the outdoors. Herenga ā Nuku Aotearoa, the Outdoor Access Commission is organising an award ceremony for the Rodney community to be held soon.

Other legal easements on private land pending approval will connect Warkworth with Snells Beach and Matakana. This is another exciting new development, which has this section of the trail now firmly in the trust’s sights.

To date, the trust has fully planned, engineered, and costed the whole trail network at $52 million. The benefit cost ratio indicates that the Puhoi to Mangawhai trail will create employment and economic opportunities on a scale never seen before in any of New Zealand’s ‘Great Ride’ destinations.

Since its inception eight years ago, the trust has kept its ambitious goal of delivering a world-class, multi-purpose trail network front of mind for Rodney, now Auckland’s fastest growing region. Once built, it will connect communities from Puhoi to Mangawhai and could potentially join Northland’s Twin Coast Trail network.

The Auckland region currently lacks a trail which can be deemed worthy of the title ‘Great Ride’.
The benefits of building one in Rodney are myriad and include providing free public access to one of Auckland’s most popular and accessible regions. It will also become an integral part of New Zealand’s National Cycle Network which, when realised, will be the gateway to the country’s largest trail network of more than 1000 kilometres and realise Sir John Key’s original vision.

Join or support
To become part of the action in this project, interested parties are invited to contact the trust at www.mctt.org.nz. If you are on, close to or expect to use the Point Wells to Matakana Country Park section of the trail, the trust would love to hear from you. Contact Meg Eriksen at meg@mctt.org.nz in the first instance.