Great Harbour Way group urges councils to buy Baring Head land

The chance to bring the 284-hectare Baring Head property on the eastern side of Wellington Harbour into public hands is a godsent opportunity with enormous benefits for the Wellington region.

So says the coalition successfully promoting the establishment of the Great Harbour Way: Te Aranui o Poneke, a 70-kilometre walking and cycling route around the whole of Wellington harbour.

The group is working with Wellington and Hutt City Councils and Greater Wellington regional council to have the Great Harbour Way developed over a ten-year period. It will become a major visitor attraction for the Wellington region, as well as a safe commuter cycling and recreation route.

Spokesman Alastair Smith says that were Greater Wellington and/or the Hutt City Council to purchase the Baring Head property, once part of the Riddiford estate, it would significantly improve access to the Great Harbour Way. ‘Presently, to start at Baring Head – the beginning of the route – you have to walk or cycle there from Eastbourne and then backtrack. However, if the route across the headland from Wainuiomata Road to Fitzroy Bay were public, the trip from Fitzroy Bay to Eastbourne would become continuous, making the route even more attractive.

All other sections of the Great Harbour Way are already in public hands, and Great Harbour Way coalition hopes to launch the first section this summer with way-finders, and signage pointing out historic and natural features.

The Baring Head property has come on the market as a mortgagee sale.

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