There’s a lot happening in this park to support people’s recreation enjoyment and restoration of the environment. 

At the heart of the vision for restoring this and other parks is partnerships with mana whenua and collaborations with community.

He waka eke noa.  

We’re all in this moving forward together.  

Toitū Te Whenua Parks Network Plan 2020-2030 (Toitū Te Whenua) is our Reserves Act statutory management plan. It provides policy directions and identifies many actions for work over the coming years. It’s based on feedback we received through public consultation processes from 2018 through to 2020 when we asked you what was important in your parks and what could be improved. You can read all the details if you're interested.  

Since then, our annual parks survey gathers further feedback and respondents consistently suggest we do more to restore the natural environment of this park.  

Te wai te ora, water is life! We are grateful for the work of volunteers who help in kaitiaki and manaki whenua, land care and education activities throughout our park network. Restoration activities and working more with communities are the core focus of this Plan because ‘He waka eke noa, we’re all in this moving forward together’. You can read more about the parks restoration programme, Recloaking Papatūānuku, including an overarching guideline (PDF 23 MB) which suggests possible restoration methods and priorities.

Restoration work at Belmont Regional Park
Restoration work at Belmont Regional Park

Ko Ngā Whanonga Pono / Core values for Parks

Park values are important. In the first consultation to develop a new management plan we asked you, the community, what you valued about regional parks. We built on this further with feedback from our mana whenua partners. The park values section of Toitū Te Whenua guides our decision making in caring for parks.  

Toitū te whenua
Toitū te mana
Toitū te taiao
Toitū to mauri ora

Hold fast to the land
Hold fast to our pride
Hold fast to our environment
Hold fast to all living things

small waterfall

What sort of park is Belmont?

Most of the park is classified under the Reserves Act as public Recreation Reserve. This means that the focus is supporting recreation activities and protection of the natural environment. The stock grazing you see in the north-eastern part of the park is part of our grazing legacy. Our park management directions are now focused on restoring Belmont Regional Park. They come from Toitū Te Whenua Parks Network Plan 2020-30 (Toitū Te Whenua).  The Plan has a vision to "restore ecosystem health for the benefit of nature and people".  
 
The environment of Belmont Park is in different stages of health. Some areas are flourishing such as the lower Korokoro Valley and Pareraho Forest (the lower catchments of Speedy’s and Belmont Streams). Other areas of the park are in the early stages of recovery after stock grazing ended, or pine plantations were removed such as the upper Korokoro Valley. There’s much to do in this big and beautiful park. We would love for you to get involved if you would like to help the restoration and conservation efforts. Find a conservation group to get involved in.

To receive updates about future consultations or periodic updates on parks planning matters please email parksplanning@gw.govt.nz.   

Pareraho Forest is lush and green and a local haven for people and nature. Photo: Jonathon Neill Where grazing has ended nature is bouncing pack. This is a great seed source for distribution by birds, wind, and rain.

Enhancing recreation experiences

Improving access and signs in West Belmont Park (Waitangirua)

Over in western Belmont, East Porirua, the main park entry is now open at Waihora Crescent. It’s a couple of houses north of PCC’s Waihora Park, beside the park cottage at number 44. After being closed for commercial stock grazing for many years, the whole of this part of the park is now open to everyone on mountain bikes or foot. You can take your dog in too (on lead) with one trail allowing dogs off-lead on a section of it. 

Access for horse riding in this part of the park is still being worked out.  

There will be a lot more improvements here over the next few years as Ngāti Toa and community groups help restore this part of the park and make use of some of the former farming facilities, such as the shearing shed. There are some lovely natural wetlands in the gullies and great views back over Porirua. Watch this space for more developments and the detailed planning processes for recreation facility improvements via the master planning process.

A woman crouches with her dog next to a "dogs are welcome off-lead beyond this point" sign

The new main park access at Waihora Crescent in East Porirua, Waitangirua

This is the new main park access at Waihora Crescent in East Porirua, Waitangirua. You can walk or ride your bike up the road from here straight into the park and explore. Once the access under Transmission Gully Motorway is reopened you will be able to ride from here to the Hutt Valley trail and beyond. It's only 5km across the park, but there are some big steep hills, and the tracks are gravel, so take extra care when exploring.

A bollard marking the Puke Ariki Traverse

Improving wayfinding throughout the park

Belmont is a vast park and in some areas our sign updating work was put on hold because of the Transmission Gully development works and the previous focus on commercial farming. Toitū Te Whenua directions shift the focus to public park access and recreation enjoyment – after all this park is a recreation reserve! This means we’re progressively removing and recycling gates and fences that are no longer needed and making the park as barrier free as possible.

We have had feedback about signs too in our annual park visitor surveys. We’ve heard that Belmont Regional Park needs better signs and more of them. Getting lost generally isn’t much fun and while the grazed parts of the park don’t have many trees or other natural landmarks it can be disorienting when the clouds come down. Well… our rangers have been hard at work developing and putting new signs in for you. They are making good progress and there is more to do, but we think this work is already making it easier to find your way around.  

Belmont bunkers storytelling trail

In Belmont we have a project to create a heritage story telling trail at the top of Hill Road around some of the Belmont WWII ammunition bunkers.

The Regional Parks Storytelling Project is based on the Toitū Te Whenua policy direction ‘To provide and encourage high-quality storytelling via a range of methods to reveal interesting, relevant and educational stories to visitors’.

There are six storytelling projects which aim to support manaakitanga and kaitiakitanga and enrich people’s recreation experiences in parks. The work is funded by a Three Waters Reform, Better off Funding grant of $1.4m. The Storytelling Project commenced in January 2023 and is in the early planning stage. The individual projects will be completed over the next three to four years. We are working alongside mana whenua on all the projects and there will be opportunities for public input too. The Belmont project is one of six park projects from Toitū Te Whenua. Read more about the other projects.

An easy access storytelling trail around the WWII bunkers at Belmont Regional Park

A circuit trail already exists and is identified in Toitū Te Whenua on Map 9, page 116. It passes more than 15 bunkers (WWII munitions stores) and provides a great opportunity and place to reveal the history of the bunkers alongside current park stories, such as bush restoration and work to enhance downstream freshwater. Numerous wetland gullies can be seen from the trail. In the short-term directional markers are planned so it’s easier to find your way around. 

If you have ideas or feedback about the bunkers easy access trail you can email them to parksplanning@gw.govt.nz or watch this space for further updates.

A WWII munition bunkers on the Bunker Trail
The WWII munition bunkers on the Bunker Trail passes through stock grazed land at present but restoration work is planned here. Vegetation will provide shelter for people, habitat for native wildlife and support downstream water quality. Maintaining some of the great views will be important too.
Map showing the Bunker Trail
Where is the bunkers easy access trail located?

The easy circuit trail already exists but there is no storytelling yet. At the moment you have to walk or ride up Hill Road to the start of the walk. We will be looking at ways to make this more accessible in the future.

Our park rangers have put up directional markers (orange triangles) but because there is still stock grazing here, there are some gates to open and close near the macrocarpa trees at the intersection along Belmont Road. The trail passes about 15 of the 62 bunkers in the park and is suitable for anyone with reasonable mobility. It's mapped in Toitū Te Whenua.

Always take a warm, windproof layer because it’s a very exposed environment.

If you have any great ideas about storytelling or fun things you think we could do (some of bunkers are great sound shells) in this project, please email us at parksplanning@gw.govt.nz. We would love to hear from you.

Great news for dog walkers!

Western Belmont is a great part of the park to visit, with incredible views back over the Harbour inlet and Mana Island. We’ve improved access into the park for everyone, including those of you with a furry four-legged friends. There is no more stock grazing in the West Belmont (Waitangirua/East Porirua) part of the park, so you can walk your dog and ride your mountain bike freely here now. The easiest access is the main park entry which is beside 44 Waihora Crescent. You can also access the park via the Porirua Council parks beside the Cannons Creek shops or Waihoura Park in Waihoura Crescent. 

Both Māra Roa Loop Walk and Māra Roa Track allow dogs on-lead, with some of the Waihora Loop Track allowing dogs off-lead. Parts of Waihora Park are a ‘dog exercise area’. Check the Porirua City Council website for details.

Go explore these lovely stomping grounds with your dog but please respect other visitors by keeping your dog under control, and always pick up after them. There are no bins for dog waste at present, so please take this home with you.

Two dogs sit in the grass at Belmont Regional Park
A group of people planting in the area where the pines were removed in the vicinity of Stratton Street.
Many hands make light work, he waka eke noa, we’re all in this together. This planting is in the area where the pines were removed in the vicinity of Stratton Street.
Aerial imagery shows the regenerating native bush which is being supported by local recreation and conservation groups
Aerial imagery shows the regenerating native bush which is being supported by local recreation and conservation groups.

For more information about various groups, visit our volunteering page.

To receive updates about parks planning matters or future consultations please email parksplanning@gw.govt.nz.

Updated July 20, 2023 at 2:25 PM

Get in touch

Phone:
0800 496 734
Email:
info@gw.govt.nz