Editorial: Te Mata Peak plans exciting

Andrew Austin, Editor, Hawke's Bay Today

I have written at length about the good things the Te Mata Park Trust is doing to protect and promote the Giant among us, but that is because Te Mata Peak is something we all treasure.

The plan to build an information and visitors' centre at the base of the peak was an excellent idea and fundraising for that is in full swing. Hawke's Bay Today is supporting the project and we encourage readers to contribute to this worthwhile cause.

When the centre is complete, it will make the park even more of a tourist attraction than it is now.

Now there is even more good news. Hawke's Bay businessman Rod Drury has somehow found the time to be on the trust board and plans to help develop a "gravity park" to attract out-of-town mountain bikers.

The plan is to make sure there is a suitable track from top to bottom so that the national downhill mountainbike champs can be held there. This project is still about six months away, so in the meantime a Te Mata Park Top 5 walking track project has been started to give visitors a range of walking loops from the main park gates.

This is fantastic. I walked up Te Mata Peak a few weeks ago and thoroughly enjoyed it, but it certainly would be even more enjoyable with better paths.

The view from the top is absolutely breathtaking and well worth the walk up.

As trust chairman Bruno Chambers says they want to make sure the park is the best it can be without compromising any of the "raw beauty the park offers".

That's good enough for me.