TECT has confirmed a grant of $175,000 to the Kopurererua Valley Rotary Centennial Trust for a project that will improve public access into the valley.
Kopurererua Valley Rotary Centennial Trust Chair Mark Dean said the funding would be used to build two bridges to complete the north-south link, increasing accessibility from the Lakes right through to Birch and 17th Avenues.
“Kopurererua Valley is a beautiful area and I’m very grateful that TECT is helping us to make this unique natural asset more accessible to residents and visitors,” Mr Dean said. The bridges are the latest step in an extensive restoration project led by the trust since 2000, which has turned what was once a weed-infested and neglected piece of land into a well-used attraction.
“The Kopurererua Valley restoration is one of the largest urban wetland regeneration projects in Australasia,” Mr Dean said. “This project will help us take all the work that’s happened over the past decade-and-a-half and open it up to the community. “The bridges will add immense value to the extensive restoration work that’s already taken place, including the 15 kilometres of boardwalks and walkways already in the valley.”
TECT Chair Bill Holland said he was delighted to be involved in a project that would allow visitors to walk or cycle the full length of the valley.
“We’re very fortunate to have this wonderful valley right on our city’s doorstep that the Kopurererua Valley Rotary Centennial Trust has done an incredible job of restoring over the past 15 years,” Mr Holland said. “TECT is very pleased to be working with the trust on this next exciting milestone for the valley and the greater Tauranga community.”
The Kopurererua Valley Rotary Centennial Trust restoration project has cleared 20 hectares of land and replanted 15 hectares with around 200,000 native trees and plants, significantly increasing birdlife and biodiversity in the valley. It has also realigned the stream and created several new lakes.
Project Tauranga partners, and other organisations that have also made significant contributions to the restoration project, are Te Runanga O Te Ngai Tamarawaho, Comvita, Legacy Funerals, Trees for Survival, Opus International Ltd and Naturally Native.
