Join us
We're always looking for your ideas, your experience, your energy, your support. We need people willing to put in time and effort to make these ideas come to life. We need YOU!
You'll enjoy connecting with your community, meeting people, and contributing to making Kaiwaka an even better place to live.
Please get in touch, or come along to our meetings.
Lighting up Kaiwaka:
The little town of de-lights
Technology has moved beyond the ‘fairy-light’ age and our lighting group use durable LED based sophisticated systems that run at little cost.
Get in touch if you'd like to light up the night with our lighting team!
McClean Park Transformation
The completed footbridges project has brought important safety benefits to Kaiwaka residents, and opens up the potential to improve linking of the spread apart commercial areas strung along the SH1.
McClean Park bordering the northern footbridge on the north bank of the Mountain Creek has received much-needed tidy up and maintenance. However, it's not over yet! Drainage is needed to keep the areas clear of flooding and bogging in winter months; also we aim to install barriers to prevent vandals from running their vehicles over the grass.
Keeping McClean Park clean and attractive promotes its safe use as a stopping / rest area for passing motorists and provides for the safety and security of pedestrians using the footbridge to reach a picnic area by the edge of the estuary. Connecting the town to the Kaipara waterway will provide great advantage to residents and to visitors alike, giving the town and the state highway travellers a waterside picnic rest area and a venue where in future we expect that kayakers will access the waterway safely. The parking spaces around the area support visitors visiting the town over the new footbridges or walking north to the café and beyond.
The park will be an open recreational and rest area for the workers associated with the newly zoned commercial areas north of the bridge. With enhancement, this area could also potentially provide an excellent future base for the intended information centre at Kaiwaka: the gateway to Northland.
Stay tuned to our channels for information on McClean Park working bees!
Kayak Pontoon at McClean Park
In 2023 we identified community support for a pontton on Mountain Creek, accessible from McClean park, from which residents and visitors could launch kayaks and canoes.
The tidal nature of the creek estuary, plus the history of high (and fast flowing) floods, combine to set requirements for this pontoon.
What's envisaged is a floating platform rising and falling with the water level as guided by poles set in the bed which will provide the necessary support and security. The platform will be accessible from the park via a hinged bridge.
To date funding has been provided to cover initial design and for obtaining relevant consents from Kaipara District and Northland Regional Councils, and possibly Conservation NZ.
Once we have an approved design in place, funding will be sought to build the project.
SH1 West Footpath
Kaiwaka has long been bisected by SH1, and as traffic has intensified over the years the highway has been an increasingly dangerous barrier to people wanting to walk between the businesses on the west side and those on the east side of the highway.
The two footbridges finished in 2023 were originally a part of a much wider plan to improve pedestrian access connecting Kaiwaka. Unfortunately, cost over-runs at the time the bridges were finished meant that the vital connecting footpath running along the west side of SH1 could not be delivered.
At last this project is about to be started. Council has committed to performing the work in June 2025, building a pedestrian way from the north footbridge to the south footbridge along the west side of SH1 (as indicated by the purple line in the image at left).
The work will entail relocating some power lines, and will remedy the broken ground where vehicles cross at Eutopia, the Cheese Shop and at Archers Furniture. The footpath will ensure that the gradient from the bridge is not too steep, and that pedestrians are kept safe from fast moving traffic.
It is expected that the project will be completed in June.
A skatepark for Kaiwaka
We started working in late 2023 assembling a proposal for a skatepark to be located on the new McCleans Park 2022, next to Gibbons Rd.
The first year involved loads of consultations with stakeholders (schools, neighbouring residents and businesses, Te Uri o Hau) as well as with experts in playground and park development. An output was presented to the community in early 2025 for feedback. Since then the proposal has been developed to the stage of making a submission to Kaipara District Council for resource consent. We are still waiting for the outcome of the submission. Once we have the consent in place we will be able to advance into detailed design, for which funds are already in hand.
We have so far received over $200,000 to go towards the build of the skatepark (anticipated budget will be of the order of $650,000). we hope to commence the build program by the end of 2025.
Riverside Trail
A future component to the projects enhancing pedestrian connectivity around Kaiwaka is the planned riverside trail.
The basic idea is to turn Kaiwaka's face back towards the Kaipara. Kaiwaka has two streams running through town: Mountain Stream, and Kaipara River. These join together about 500m west of the town, and from there flow into the Kaipara Harbour. The idea is to provide a track following the edge of the estuary from McCleans Park around to the southern footbridge by Eutopia (the yello line indicated in the plan at left). The track will be an easy walking route for all residents' use. It may also support bikes. By providing pleasant rest and view points and interesting information along the way we plan to make this an attractive walking destination for locals and visitors alike.
At this time this project remains in its envisaging phase: Ideas are called for from the community, to help us to develop this concept into a facility which will provide pleasure and value for everyone.
We would love your help in making this project come to life! If you would like to be involved, please let us know.
