A fun family day out will be held on Sunday, 15 November 2015 to celebrate the official opening of the newly-completed Whakatāne-Ōhope Walkway and Cycleway.
The ‘Up and Over’ event will have something for the whole family, including a sausage sizzle, refreshments, bouncy castles and spot prizes. The event will start at Rex Morpeth Park at 9 am and will finish at Ōhope’s Mahy Reserve, where buses will be available to shuttle people back over the hill from 11 am to 12 noon. Mayor Tony Bonne will kick things off with a ribbon cutting ceremony near the Bird Walk entrance before participants run, walk or cycle the new pathway.
The 5 km-long roadside path is now wider on the busy Gorge Road section and provides a safer and more comfortable surface for walking, running and cycling between Whakatāne and Ōhope. It is hoped the track will promote a more active, fitter and healthier community, allowing people to choose to commute between two of the District’s key residential areas by foot or pedal power.
The Whakatāne District Council project, which began in 2013, was carried out with funding support from Grassroots Trust, the Whakatāne and Ōhope Beach Community Boards, Nova Energy and the New Zealand Transport Agency.