Boost for Oruaiti Reserve
A 17 metre-long waka structure symbolising an early waka arrival, is to be built at the southern end of the new Oruaiti Reserve in Seatoun.
The reserve, formally known as Point Dorset Reserve, overlooks the entrance to Wellington Harbour taking in the coastal areas of Seatoun and Breaker Bay. The area contains the old Oruaiti Pā, a site of outstanding significance to tangata whenua, as well as two former gun batteries built to defend Wellington at the outbreak of World War Two.
Liz Mellish of the Port Nicholson Block Settlement Trust, which owns the reserve, says thanks to a $400,000 grant from the Plimmer Bequest Fund, walking tracks and entrances will be upgraded as well as work to restore and protect the habitat of the little blue penguins which breed there.
Mellish says the centrepiece of the new development will be a stylised waka landscape feature on the Pā site at the southern end of the reserve.
“The waka acknowledges the importance of the site for iwi, particularly its association with the explorer Kupe and the historical significance of the old Pā.”
The Oruaiti Reserve is jointly managed by the Trust, local Maori and the Wellington City Council. This week the council announced the purchase of an extra two hectares of land to the western side of the reserve which will be incorporated into the reserve. The purchase came after almost a decade of negotiations with the land’s private owner. Cr Helene Ritchie, says the new purchase will ensure public access to the area.
Cr Ritchie is inviting the public to “dig-in” and help out with the reserve’s development to mark Arbor Day and the Year of the Coast on June 5, from 10am.
Ritchie says. “Bring your gloves and a spade and help us reach our goal of planting 3,000 native trees. We’ll be providing lunch.”
The reserve, formally known as Point Dorset Reserve, overlooks the entrance to Wellington Harbour taking in the coastal areas of Seatoun and Breaker Bay. The area contains the old Oruaiti Pā, a site of outstanding significance to tangata whenua, as well as two former gun batteries built to defend Wellington at the outbreak of World War Two.
Liz Mellish of the Port Nicholson Block Settlement Trust, which owns the reserve, says thanks to a $400,000 grant from the Plimmer Bequest Fund, walking tracks and entrances will be upgraded as well as work to restore and protect the habitat of the little blue penguins which breed there.
Mellish says the centrepiece of the new development will be a stylised waka landscape feature on the Pā site at the southern end of the reserve.
“The waka acknowledges the importance of the site for iwi, particularly its association with the explorer Kupe and the historical significance of the old Pā.”
The Oruaiti Reserve is jointly managed by the Trust, local Maori and the Wellington City Council. This week the council announced the purchase of an extra two hectares of land to the western side of the reserve which will be incorporated into the reserve. The purchase came after almost a decade of negotiations with the land’s private owner. Cr Helene Ritchie, says the new purchase will ensure public access to the area.
Cr Ritchie is inviting the public to “dig-in” and help out with the reserve’s development to mark Arbor Day and the Year of the Coast on June 5, from 10am.
Ritchie says. “Bring your gloves and a spade and help us reach our goal of planting 3,000 native trees. We’ll be providing lunch.”
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