WHAT do you want at Point Dorset? Plans for the undeveloped coastal hillside, sitting above Breaker Bay beach at the entrance to Wellington Harbour, are currently being discussed, and public submissions called for.
 “We want to know what you like about it as well as what you don’t and what needs improving,” says Mike Oates, manager of open space and recreation planning at the Wellington City Council, who is helping with a Reserve Management Plan for the site.
The plan is being co-managed by the council and Port Nicholson Block Settlement Trust (PNBST), an organisation representing descendents of Te Atiawa, Taranaki, Ngati Ruanui and Ngati Tama Maori, who signed the treaty there in 1840.
PNBST spokesperson Liz Mellish says there have been no reservations about entering into co-management of the site.  
“It comes down to manaakitanga, or looking after the people. Co-managing a public space with the council is looking after the people, and it fits with our role as taikiakitanga, or guardians, as well.
“We’ve had a good relationship with the council in its various guises right back to 1840.”
Fort Dorset, the coastal defense artillery and Army base with concrete gun emplacements you can still view there, was built on top of the old Oruaiti pa site.
“Many value both the European and Maori history and would like to see that better explained on site,” says Oates.
An archeological survey of historical sites will begin in February.
“Colonisers wanted the same places we had because they were placed strategically for kai, resources and position. The entrance to the harbour is an important position, for watching for people coming in, but also for watching the weather and for fishing,” says Mellish.
Oates says 30 submissions have been made so far, “predominantly from regular users in the Eastern suburbs”.
“People love the wildness and naturalness of the place, and they don’t want to see that changed. The main message is ‘don’t develop it too much’, and I don’t think we have any intention of doing that,” says Oates.
Oates says the focus of the plan will be aesthetic, concentrating on landscaping and improving current tracks and signage.
Submissions close February 2.