Waitakere Range Visitor Management Background Report
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
WAITAKERE RANGES VISITOR MANAGEMENT PLAN BACKGROUND REPORT AAAUUUCCCKKKLLLAAANNNDDD CCCOOOUUUNNNCCCIIILLL CCCOOOMMMMMMUUUNNNIIITTTYYY PPPOOOLLLIIICCCYYY AAANNNDDD PPPLLLAAANNNNNNIIINNNGGG WWWEEESSSTTT AAAPPPRRRIIILLL 222000111333 2 Contents 1 Summary of Findings.................................................................................................... 5 2 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 7 3 Waitakere Ranges Land Tenure .................................................................................... 8 4 Policy Context............................................................................................................. 10 4.1 Waitakere Ranges Heritage Area Act (2008)...................................................... 10 4.2 Regional Park Management Plan 2010 ............................................................... 11 4.3 Local Park Reserve Management Plans.............................................................. 14 4.4 Pre-2010 Local Council visitor Policy................................................................ 14 4.5 Auckland Council Plans (Post 2010) .................................................................. 16 4.6 Community and Stakeholder Views on Visitors................................................. 17 5 What do visitors value?............................................................................................... 23 6 Visitor Attractions and Amenities............................................................................... 24 7 Level of Visitor Activity ............................................................................................. 28 7.1 Visits to Waitakere Ranges regional park........................................................... 28 7.2 Visits to beaches.................................................................................................. 31 8 Consented Activities................................................................................................... 37 8.1 Consented Activities on Regional Parkland........................................................ 37 8.2 Passengers on Narrow Gauge Tramlines ............................................................ 42 8.3 Events on Local Parks......................................................................................... 43 8.4 Other Visitor Attractions..................................................................................... 43 8.5 Summary of Visitor Activity............................................................................... 44 9 Infrastructure ............................................................................................................... 46 9.1 carparking............................................................................................................ 46 9.2 Toilets.................................................................................................................. 46 9.3 Regional Park...................................................................................................... 46 10 Visitor Characteristics............................................................................................. 47 10.1 Characteristics of Visitors to Piha and Bethells/ Te Henga ................................ 47 10.2 Characteristics of Visitors to the regional park................................................... 48 11 Visitor Satisfaction with their Experience .............................................................. 49 11.1 Satisfaction with Regional Parks......................................................................... 49 11.2 Key findings from the Regional Park Satisfaction Survey ................................. 51 11.3 Satisfaction with local parks ............................................................................... 51 12 Management of impacts on Heritage Features........................................................ 52 12.1 Management of Impacts on Indigenous ecosystems ........................................... 52 12.2 Management of Impacts on Collection and storage of high quality water.......... 58 12.3 Management of impacts on Landscape qualities and Natural scenic beauty ...... 59 3 12.4 Management of The quietness and darkness of the Waitakere Ranges and the coastal parts of the area ................................................................................................... 59 13 Economic and Social Wellbeing ............................................................................. 60 13.1 Economic Wellbeing of Local communities....................................................... 60 13.2 Social Wellbeing of local communities .............................................................. 62 14 Tools to Manage Visitor Activity and Impacts ....................................................... 65 14.1 Policy Guidance.................................................................................................. 65 14.2 Managing demand by limiting activities, facilities and services ........................ 65 14.3 Managing demand by enabling visitor ‘attractors’ ............................................. 65 14.4 Site hardening...................................................................................................... 66 14.5 Interpretation ....................................................................................................... 66 14.6 Economic Instruments......................................................................................... 67 14.7 Marketing and Promotion.................................................................................... 67 14.8 Regulations and Restrictions............................................................................... 67 14.9 Presence of Authority.......................................................................................... 67 14.10 Licensing of Operators.................................................................................... 68 14.11 Codes of Practice............................................................................................. 68 14.12 Accreditation of Operators.............................................................................. 68 14.13 Iwi Management Tools.................................................................................... 69 14.14 Monitoring....................................................................................................... 69 15 Conclusions ............................................................................................................. 70 ............................................................................................................................................. 70 4 1 SUMMARY OF FINDINGS • All year round, but especially in summer weekends and holidays, people converge on the Waitakere Ranges, particularly the Manukau Harbour and West Coast beaches, the Arataki Visitor centre, Lake Wainamu, and the tracks, waterfalls and viewpoints within the Regional Park. This Park is one of the most readily recognised and highly visited of all the Auckland Regional Parks. • The west coast beaches are the most visited locations in the Heritage Area, and in particular Piha, although surf club data indicates that visitor numbers at Piha have declined in recent years. During the past 3 summer seasons the highest headcount (taken at the busiest time of day by the Piha surf club) was 2220 people on the beach at Piha on 7 February 2010. Estimates from vehicle counts indicate a daily average of nearly 8000 people visiting Piha over a fortnight during the summer holidays. • Arataki Visitor Centre with 188,827 visits in the year 2011/2012 and Cascade Kauri Park with 85,837 visits over the same period are the most heavily visited locations within the Regional Park, while Kitekite Falls, Fairy Falls and Karekare Falls are also easily accessible Regional Park hotspots. • Most visitors to the Regional Park are from West Auckland (33%) and the former Auckland City area (27%). A small number (15%) are from outside the Auckland region, with most of these being international visitors visiting places such as the Arataki Visitor Centre. A survey of visitors at Piha and Bethells/Te Henga Local Parks identified similar findings. • Monitoring of trends in visitor activity at selected Regional Park locations has shown that there has been a steady increase in the use of the Park since 2008. The number of visits has, on average, grown at a rate faster than the regional population growth, with visits to the Arataki Visitor Centre increasing by 40% and visits to Piha’s Glen Esk increasing by around 19% over a three year period. In contrast, visits to the wilderness destination of Whatipu have increased by only 2%. • A significant proportion of the Heritage Area is occupied by the Waitakere Ranges Regional Park, which is a heritage feature under the Act. Visitor management policies in the Regional Park are helping to achieve the objectives of the Act. Under the Regional Park Management Plan large areas are managed for low intensity use whilst areas identified as visitor hotspots are managed to accept the expected number of visitors, whilst minimising visitor impact. Monitoring results of visitor numbers have established that these management policies are working. • Within the Waitakere Ranges Regional Park there are 264km of walking and tramping tracks, including a nature trail at Arataki,