Natural passion drives Henley Lake revamp

It's out with the old and in with the new at Masterton's Henley Lake.
The maze planted around 20 years ago is to be pulled out and replaced with trees.
It was part of an original planting concept initiated by conservationist Murray King and Tinui farmer, Jim Pottinger.
Meantime, work is well under way to replace the battered and dilapidated timber entrance off Colombo Road with a solid brick and iron entranceway and fence of a matching design to the one in Te Ore Ore Road.
Both entrances have been funded by the Masterton Rotary Club, which has adopted the lake reserve as one its major ongoing projects.
"Mazes are supposed to create a puzzling journey, but the one in Henley Lake would have the best of people with a good sense of direction totally lost," says the chairman of the Henley Lake Trust 2003, Tennick Dennison.
"It's become so overgrown and tangled that it's hardly recognisable as a maze anymore."
Dr Dennison says trust members have agreed to the maze being taken out after the council indicated it was a problem maintaining it.
He said it was also generally accepted the maze was "sociably unsafe" in today's environment providing many areas where people could hide and cause havoc in the adjacent wetlands.
He experienced this "havoc" in December 2004 when vandals torched an observation hideaway used to watch birds in the wetlands. The charred remains have long been cleared away and the trust would like to replace it.
Dr Dennison says he's keen to see development of the wetlands to be as natural as possible to cater for the increasing numbers of birds, which call Henley Lake home. Last count there were 47 different types of birds at Henley Lake.
Dr Dennison is a retired Masterton GP who is turning his birdlife and conservation passions into a full-time job helping lead Henley Lake's progress.
He said parts of the maze hedge would be retained to provide natural shelter but would eventually all be taken out once trees are established.
The council has listed in its long-term plan to spend $35,000 in the area adding to the replanting. Just what that redevelopment will be is not yet known, says parks and recreation officer, Rosanne Heys, as it's planned for the 2008/09 year.
Henley Lake park covers 43ha with the lake itself covering 11ha, with four small islands.
The origins of Henley Lake can be traced back to the 1930s and the vision of a Masterton lawyer Henry Major.
Mr Major felt that a lake attraction would bring visitors to the region in search of water-based recreation. He had been a student at Oxford in England and been a keen participant in the Henley regatta on the Thames, hence the name he adopted for the project in Masterton.
The society earmarked an old gravel pit cum dairy and pig farm on the eastern edge of Masterton as a possible site. Dr Dennison remembers it as a "derelict eyesore" but with the great potential of having the Ruamahanga River and Waipoua rivers bordering it.
Spasmodic development followed but it was not until the formation of the seven-member Henley Trust in 1966 that work began in earnest. Mining rights to the site were obtained by the trust and the revenue earned from the sale of shingle funded bank loans, crown leases and property purchases.
The lake advanced to working drawings in 1985 and the first contract for its construction was let the next year.
The lake was filled in 1987 while work continued on the greening and landscaping of the surrounding grounds. More than 5000 trees were planted that year and a policy of ongoing planning was adopted by the Henley Trust on the recommendation of conservationist Murray King.
The official opening of Henley Lake Park was held in February 1988, conducted by Henley Trust foundation member John Mackley.
Henley Lake was passed from the Henley trustees to the Masterton District Council in 1991.
In 1993, the council developed a management plan, aiming to keep to the original concept where possible.
The eight trustees are effectively the Henley guardians who oversee proposed developments with the help of a Friends of Henley Lake" organisation, which has around 170 members.
The next on-site meeting of the Friends will be on Saturday, April 29, when last year's planting will be inspected and future plans discussed.
Among Dr Dennison's dreams are the employment of a full-time caretaker and to see the car park on Colombo Road turned into a caravan park.
He's also got some ideas on how to make the lake water clean and swimmable.
"All would cost money I know, but you've got to start dreaming somewhere," he said.