A 1970 gift to the Crown became Hawke's Bay's newest park on Saturday, with the opening of the Ouepoto Reserve and McHardy Walkway at Aramoana Beach in Central Hawke's Bay.
About 130 people witnessed the opening, where Aramoana Environmental and Education Charitable Trusts general manager Rod Hansen, who led the project, said the land was offered to the Crown in 1970 by the late Douglas and Mary McHardy, who had seen private beach access overseas and did not want it to happen in Hawke's Bay. They gifted 14 acres (5.6ha) of waterfront land to the Government on the condition it be used for recreation.
In 2004 the Shoal Beach Development built the road from the Ouepoto Stream to the Aramoana Beach waterfront, and that was gifted to the Central Hawke's Bay Council along with a picnic area, carpark and toilet block.
The Aramoana Environmental and Education Charitable Trust worked with the McHardys' four daughters and created a carpark and 1km walking track in the Ouepoto Reserve. "It has been a great project which had been well supported by the Central Hawke's Bay District Council, Hawke's Bay Regional Council and the Department of Conservation," Mr Hansen said. Sponsorship from companies such as Hatuma Lime had meant "we were able to archieve our goal and created a great asset for the people of Hawke's Bay and beyond".
