Athol Sanson and his new lookout, a project created by the Marton community to celebrate and acknowledge his time as council parks and reserves team leader. Photo / Supplied
Athol Sanson and his new lookout, a project created by the Marton community to celebrate and acknowledge his time as council parks and reserves team leader. Photo / Supplied
To celebrate the vision of the former Rangitikei park and reserves boss, a community has come together to look at his work through a new perspective.
Athol's Lookout, created by Project Marton, Mitre 10 Marton and Bryce Kinloch, is now situated at the Marton dams to acknowledge Athol Sanson.
CathAsh from Project Marton said the project was an opportunity to celebrate the vision Sanson developed with the future in mind.
Before Sanson's departure from Rangitikei District Council, he put in place a 20-year project in reforestation for the Marton dams that sought to improve water quality and make community engagement a top priority.
You won't miss Athol's Lookout as you drive past the Marton Damns with the offical road sign pointing you in the right direction. Photo / Supplied
"He has a whole lot of heart, the whole idea of planting it out so we have cleaner water through there and so we have biodiversity out there is really special," Ash said.
A rustic wooden frame designed by Bryce Kinloch now stands off the roadside, creating an entrance way to look out across the dams.
Ash said the frame is in the perfect spot to overlook both dams and all the planting that has happened since June this year.
Sanson celebrated with family, friends and ex-work colleagues as he unveiled the new project. Photo / Supplied
Project Marton hopes to take photos through the frame to show a time-lapse of the planting growth and progress in the future.
As part of the reforestation, around 25,000 native plants will be planted on-site over the next two years.
Sanson's former team has been working with community groups every Wednesday and Saturday since June to get more than 17,000 plants planted by spring.
Mitre 10 Marton and Project Marton also created a wooden seat with Athol's View engraved into it that is situated 20 metres from the wooden frame, among some of the plantings.
"Mitre 10 helped with every aspect, they even helped to fix up the fences and make them look better. They have an amazing community spirit."
A seat made by Mitre 10 Marton, with Athol's View engraved into it, now overlooks the Marton dams. Photo / Supplied
There is also an official yellow road sign with "Athol's Lookout" pointing out to the reservoir.
Members of Sanson's family, council and Project Marton representatives and community members joined in surprising him with a trip to the dams on September 7 to unveil the project.
"He was very shocked, surprised, pleased and I believe his words were humbled," Ash said.
"I mentioned while I was up there, to achieve great things it takes just one person to have a really special vision and to have a whole lot of heart, passion and energy behind that and that brings everyone in to help out and say yeah we want this too."
Ash thanked the community for its giving nature which helped Project Marton to fundraise for the project.
