The Waiewe Reserve Restoration Group is celebrating several years of hard work with a Picnic in the Paddock for the local community from 3 pm – 6 pm on Saturday, 23 January. The event will feature live music by the Beach Band, flax creation and dance workshops and games and activities for all the family. People are encouraged to bring a picnic, something to sit on and a gold coin donation. 

Restoration Group member Jacqui Hughes says the group is keen to see people just “give it a go.” “We’d like to encourage people who would not normally go along to an organised ‘arts event’ to participate,” she says. “It will be easy and relaxed, and it’s targeted towards family groups.”

Mrs Hughes adds that the event is also an opportunity for the local community to come together and see what has been achieved at the reserve. “Our volunteers have put a lot of time and effort into the Reserve, and it’s great to see the fruits of our labour,” she says. “We still have a lot of work to do, and we’re currently looking for more members, but we thought it was also time to celebrate how far we have come. 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 invasive plant species and is completing a replanting programme throughout the upper Reserve as well.

Picnic in the Paddock will take place in the clearing of the Waiewe Reserve which can be accessed from Appenzell Drive, The Fairway and Waiewe Street. People are encouraged to walk to the Reserve to avoid parking issues.