The Waiewe Reserve Restoration Group is celebrating several years of hard work with a Picnic in the Paddock for the local community on Saturday, 28 March 2015. The event will feature live music by the Beach Band and games and activities for all the family. People are encouraged to bring a picnic and a blanket or two so that they can sit back and enjoy the festivities. 

Picnic in the Paddock coincides with Neighbours Day, and the communities that live close to and use the Waiewe Reserve are invited to stroll down and enjoy the event, along with their neighbours.

Restoration Group spokesperson Annette Such says the event is a chance for the local community to come together and see what has been achieved. “Our volunteers have put a great deal of time and effort into the Reserve, and it is great to see that it is starting to take shape,” she says. “We still have a lot of work to do and are currently looking for more members, but we thought it was also time to celebrate how far we have come and enjoy some of our hard work. We also want to find out from people who use the reserve what they would like to see in the future and to hear their ideas.”

The volunteer group began the project in November 2008 by clearing the lower part of the Reserve. With ongoing support from Forest and Bird, the Whakatāne Community Board, Whakatāne District Council and the Bay of Plenty Regional Council, as well as Department of Corrections labour, the group has now removed many non-native plant species and is completing a replanting programme throughout the upper Reserve as well.

Picnic in the Paddock is set to start at 5:30 pm and go through to 8 pm. People are encouraged to walk to the reserve to avoid parking issues. If raining, the picnic will be held on Sunday, 29 March.