CSP donation helps Waipu Community project progress
Five years since a group of Waipu Primary School children wrote submissions to the Whangarei District Council asking for a safe route to ride their bikes from Waipu township to the Cove, stage one of the Waipu to Waipu Cove Cycle and Walkway is now complete.
“We have a very close and supportive community in Waipu which makes you want to help projects like this in any way you can,” says Tim Manning General Manager for Fulton Hogan and Chairman of the ‘Waipu to Waipu Cove Cycle and Walkway Trust’ - which was formed to see the project through to completion. “I am part of an eight-person committee* that has brought a variety of skills to the party.”
After five years of negotiations with landowners, fundraising, submissions to the Whangarei District Council, approaches to local businesses and landowners for support, planning and design work, the first big breakthrough came when local farmers - who own the farm along the northern side of Cove Rd just east of Waipu - offered an easement over their land for the trail.
“Initially finding funding wasn’t easy,” says Angela Stolwerk, a member of the committee, and trained nurse with extensive involvement in Waipu’s community affairs. “However in 2013, we were successful in securing a $25,000 grant from Transpower’s Community Care Fund. This was followed by $50,000 from the Lotteries Foundation, $50,000 from Foundation North and $9,200 from Waipu’s Alex McLean Trust. On top of that, some persuasive submissions to the Council’s 2015/2016 annual plan by members of the public resulted in $105,000 being assigned to the project, bringing the total of available funds to $290,000 - enough for the construction of stage one, Waipu to Riverview.”
“We have been very fortunate that, along with the fundraising and grants, we have had support from Paul Jenkins Contracting - who carved out almost two kms of the route - and CSP who donated their products,” adds Tim. “Stage one also required the construction of a new cycle and footbridge over the Waionehu Stream and road safety barrier for sections of the path that run parallel with Cove Road.”
Earlier this year Fulton Hogan were involved in the construction of the fourth lane of the Ellerslie section on the north bound lanes of the northern motorway in Auckland. “CSP’s Nu-Guard® 31 steel post guardrail system was used as a temporary barrier during the construction so, when this barrier was removed and a new barrier installed in the permanent location, we had about 500m of the barrier and a few posts that Fulton Hogan graciously donated to the Trust for our project,” says Tim. “Although we had enough of the old steel for stage one of the project, CSP donated end terminals and they have now donated new posts for stage two – Waipu Cove to Estuary Heights – which means we can proceed to stage two. This may not have happened without CSP’s donation. We are very grateful to Bruce and CSP as their donation has kept up the momentum of the project.”
“We were happy to contribute to this worthy project by donating our barrier products (Nu-Guard® 31 Steel posts and leading and trailing end terminals) to separate road traffic from cyclists and pedestrians,” says Bruce Stephens, Sales Engineer - Auckland/Northland for CSP. “CSP views this as a key cornerstone of what we do, keeping people safe on our roads.”
“I was really impressed with how easy it was to deal with CSP and how keen they were to jump on board,” adds Tim. “They showed a real genuine interest in helping. It is a very good indicator of the culture within their company.”