19 April 2006

Picture yourself … in a kayak at Tui Glen Reserve

Tui Glen Reserve will soon become an urban haven for walkers, kayakers and boaties. An ambitious Waitakere City Council project to beautify the Henderson reserve is underway, including the creation of an internal circular road, new paths and lighting, a shared cycle/walkway and more car parking. The footbridge into Cranwell Park will also be upgraded and new signs put up.

The new car park and section of road will make for easy access to the new jetty for the launching of kayaks and dinghies and now that the Tui Glen Heritage Jetty is finished, plans are afoot to make kayak hire be available at the jetty by next summer.

Councillor Assid Corban, former mayor of Waitakere City and Henderson Borough Council, says the project is a great step forward. “It’s bringing history to the future really because when I was a boy you used to be able to hire canoes and rowboats down there. You could even hire small yachts! I think it’s fantastic that people will be able to use the waterways again.”

Stage one of the upgrade includes construction of a new car park (near the toilet block) that will service the jetty and a new section of road to link the existing road between the Conductive Education car park and the toilet block. This work completes a circular one-way system through the park. A rain garden and storm water collection system to service the new road and car park is also under construction. Work is expected to be completed by mid-July.

Nasey Contractors Ltd, who built the Tui Glen Heritage jetty last year, are doing the upgrade, based on the Concept Plan for the reserve that was part of the Henderson Creek Corridor Reserves Management Plan, adopted by the council in 2004. The next stages of the upgrade are expected to be funded through future Annual Plan budgets.

Some work in the Concept Plan has already been completed. The section of cycleway through the reserve is finished and the old council depot in the south-west corner of the reserve has been cleaned up and a lease for this area has been granted to the Motor Caravan Association for the short-term stays of members. The camp kitchen has been demolished, the toilet block upgraded and the toilets are now open to the public.

ENDS

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