Hiwinui, Wairarapa’s first regional park, could be set up and ready for visitors within three years – just 10 minutes drive from Martinborough and owned by Greater Wellington Regional Council (GWRC).
Hiwinui regional park, sited at the northeast edge of Aorangi Forest Park, is a GWRC plantation forest, leased for 60 years to a forestry company.
Some 770 hectares in area, Hiwinui comprises two-thirds pine forest and 34 percent native forest. The erosion-prone land is zoned primary production and was bought more than 30 years ago and designated for soil conservation and river control.
The purchase was part of an initiative to rehabilitate the land and reduce soil erosion into local rivers and streams, thus minimising flood damage to local communities.
GWRC Wairarapa representative Adrienne Staples told The Star this first local regional park project had taken four years “to get over the line.”
The park was a response to submissions received from Wairarapa residents during the development of Greater Wellington’s Toitū Te Whenua Parks Network Plan, she said.
“Joe (Howells, Aorangi Restoration Trust) and Max (Stevens, former councillor; Martinborough Lions) were the locals that kicked off this conversation” of the regional park idea, she added.
“Our initial development plans for Hiwinui are to provide a picnic area, toilet facilities and signage to give people access to the stunning views that the forest offers of Wairarapa Moana and the Lower Valley.”
There could also be opportunities for activities like walking/hiking, mountain biking, horse riding, hunting and camping.
The area is served by an extensive network of forestry roads and tracks, with two entrances and an unformed paper road. Waterways are crossed by fords, Staples said.
GW notes added that “Hiwinui has some important and now precious remnants of native forest that are threatened by pine forestry and logging operations (so that) Regional Park status would provide more public scrutiny and protection.
“Good roading infrastructure could provide picnic, walking and mountain biking opportunities, as well as open up access to the northern end of Aorangi Forest Park,” the notes said.
The council also owns Tauanui Forest, and the Stoney Creek block in the hill country near Tuturumuri, both also on 60-year forestry leases. Currently there are no plans for either Tauanui Forest (adjacent to Aorangi Forest Park) or Stoney Creek (near Tuturumuri) to be transformed into parks.
Both “will remain accessible for recreational hunting by permit only and no further public access is foreseen at this stage,” a report to GWRC’s environment committee said.
“To function as a Regional Park it (Hiwinui) would need, as a minimum, car parking, a toilet, some fencing, gates and signage plus ranger services,” Staples said.
There is already a precedent for public access to the region’s forestry blocks through Akatarawa Regional Park.
The regional council is to put $400,000 towards establishing the latest park in 2026/27 and will spend $75,000 a year to maintain it from 2024/25. Some $25,000 of the cash is mana whenua kaitiaki-kaupapa funding.
GWRC has four other regional parks: Akatarawa, Battle Hill, Kaitoke and Pākuratahi.
