4th March TCC Meeting Minutes-Tamahere Reserve Name Progress But Pine Trees of Concern

The Tamahere Reserve (Crawfords Quarry) site at the Tamahere end of Tauwhare Rd is firmly on the radar because of disease in the pine trees which are becoming unsafe (the core of the tree trucks are disintegrating).

Planning is underway to remove the pine trees along side Tauwhare Road for public safety reasons (see photo). Road closure maybe required to do this in a day.

TCC has highlighted the issues that the Council needs to address and the Council is now working its way through the issues - see information attached to the TCC Minutes for 4-3-25

One issue is the Councils desire to rename the Reserve (to avoid “confusion” with the new Tamahere Park and Piazza where the Village is now built). WDC Council Rep. Crystal Beavis reports: "Council in collaboration with recognised personal within Waikato Tainui have offered a gift to the Tamahere community of the name Tamahere Paerau (pie roe) to rename the Reserve. This has yet to be considered by TCC and the Community, as the Council needs to address other issues in priority including the future use of the reserve and its reclassification.

Council is working on a management plan for the Reserve, in consultation with TCC and the community. This will identify the best use for the Reserve land, which has a very large flat area at the top plus the areas cleared and developed by Leo Koppens and many others, now under the TMRT, providing magnificent walkways in the bush and over the stream

Access to the Reserve is also a focus, so that traffic movements do not interfere with traffic using Tauwhare Road and entering and exiting Rosebanks Drive. An upgrade of this intersection in now top priority for Council but the withdrawal of NZTA funding has stopped this work for possibly three years as the Council struggles to restructure its budgets and the LTP.