Trail News - Spring 2023

​Welcome to our very first Tairua River Trail newsletter.  You’re receiving this because you’ve expressed support for or interest in the trail in the past.  We’re planning to send out this newsletter quarterly, and we’ll never spam you, but if you’d prefer not to receive them please hit “unsubscribe” at the bottom of this email.
 
Summer is around the corner and with the recent fantastic news about the SH25A reopening, we’re looking forward to seeing lots of familiar faces and new visitors to the trail over the next few months. It’s been great to see lots of young’uns out enjoying the spring sunshine on the trail!

​With all the wild weather we’ve had this year, our trail team has been kept busy with maintenance and repair work, and we’re pleased to see the trail itself has held up well through flooding and storms.  The team have also been working hard to improve the trail surroundings and create new habitats for rare native birds through new plantings.

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​Behind the scenes, the project team continues to make good progress on plans to connect the trail to Tairua via a bridge and new trail along the north bank of the Tairua River. We’ve formalised all our agreements with private landowners, obtained support from Iwi and completed the required technical and environmental assessments.​

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News from the trail

• The Pauanui half marathon, 10km, and 4.5km races return on Saturday 16 March 2024.  It’s a beautiful course, starting at the Surf Club, skirting the waterways and heading out and back along the trail.  Time to get training?
• Our native planting work is paying dividends, with abundant birdlife along the trail including these matatā chicks (see below).  Thanks to our volunteers of all ages who have helped out with the planting!
• On a sadder note, in August we farewelled Farquhar Calder, a much-loved figure on the trail and a key contributor to our progress over many years. Farquhar was the Hikuai District Trust's very first financial officer, a passionate supporter and regular donor to the trail along with his family.  His legacy lives on in the continued improvements and development of the trail.

​We’ll be out and about in Pauanui and Tairua over the summer to share our progress and plans.  Follow us on Facebook for updates on where we’ll be and when.