MEDIA RELEASE

23 March 2010

Memorial walk honours Te Atatu Peninsula stalwart

The unveiling of The Roy Ranby Walk on Taipari Strand pays tribute to a man who played a pivotal role in the park’s development.

Waitakere City Council opened a new section of the Te Atatu Peninsula Walkway at the weekend, naming it after Mr Ranby who was a founding member of the Taipari Strand Sub-committee. He died in June last year, aged 78.

A Noall Street resident since the 1960s, Mr Ranby and neighbour Dennis Collins approached the Henderson Community Board in the early 1990s for funding to turn what was previously a rubbish dump into a passive park.

“Thanks to Roy’s tenacity the Taipari Strand was the first ‘after-care’ site set up in the Auckland region,” says long-time reserve advocate and Henderson Community Board chair Elizabeth Grimmer.

“We formed the sub-committee so the council, Roy and Dennis could work together to facilitate plantings and install walkways.

“Roy made it his life’s aim to restore the area and he worked on the project right up until two weeks before he died.”

Concerned about the soil quality of the old landfill site, Mr Ranby advocated all plants be on mounds of soil to give them a greater chance of long term survival. Last October a grove of kowhai and puriri was planted on a bank in accordance with those wishes.

The Roy Ranby Walk runs from Noall Street, opposite Mr Ranby’s former house, through Taipari Strand and north to Renata Crescent.

His children David Ranby and Annette Colbert opened the walkway during a community celebration where many local groups including sea scouts, sailing, rowing and kayaking clubs joined in.

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