Update on the reserve development

As part of the reserve development project, Council carried out a trial allowing overnight parking for responsible campers at a small section of Hamurana Reserve. With summer approaching, they sought to understand the trial's impact on the reserve and the wider community.

Rotorua Lakes Council analysed the survey feedback and reported back to the community.

In 2013, the Hamurana and Awahou Residents and Ratepayers Association (HARRA) made a submission to Council's 2013/2014 Annual Plan requesting Council prepare a plan for the future development of the Hamurana Lakefront reserve.

In September 2017 Council led a consultation project in which the public were invited to give feedback on the draft development plan and which of the proposed works were most important to them and what should have been prioritised first.

With the support of Ngati Rangiwewehi, HARRA and the Rotorua Lakes Community Board Council are now working towards developing the reserve based on priorities fed back from the community.

Development work was undertaken and finished in the summer of 2018/19.

Overnight parking trial results

The trial took place during summer from 18 December 2019 until the first day of Alert Level 4 in 2020. The trial site was visited by a camping ‘Ambassador’, which was part of the Government’s national programme helping to educate visitors across the country about good behaviours that demonstrated Responsible Camping etiquette.

During the trial, the Ambassador surveyed 181 vehicles. Key points identified through the surveys include:

• Majority of visitors were from overseas
• There were often more vehicles parked than the limit of six
• Most visitors surveyed stayed one night before moving on
• Rubbish was a problem a couple of times – but did not appear to be visitor related e.g. dumping vegetation/clippings
• Security visited the site nightly and moved on any camper vans who were not in the designated area or those in tents elsewhere on the reserve.