Celebrating Kāpiti outdoors

Kāpiti residents are being encouraged to enjoy the outdoors for Parks Week.

Kāpiti Coast District Council is celebrating Parks Week again this year by profiling a park a day from 4 to 12 March and hosting a mayoral walk with Mayor K Gurunathan on 9 March.

There are also prizes, including a trip for two to Kāpiti Island, to be won by sharing photos of people enjoying a Kāpiti park with the hashtag #ParksofKapiti on Council’s Facebook page, or by hunting for ‘Kāpiti Rocks’ in the profiled parks.

Parks and Recreation Manager Alison Law says the annual international celebration recognises the important role parks play in contributing to the health of our communities.

“It’s all about raising awareness on the value of parks and open spaces and to get people out of their living rooms and enjoying the outdoors,” she says.

“We manage more than 500 hectares of parks, reserves and sports grounds in the district, along with almost 80 kilometres of walkways, cycleways and horse riding paths. These spaces are one of the reasons people choose to live in Kāpiti and often attract visitors here too.

“The week is also a good opportunity to recognise the hard work that goes into keeping our parks looking good by volunteer groups in Kāpiti and also our team here at the Council who maintain our local parks and reserves.”

Mayor K Gurunathan’s mayoral walk is on Thursday 9 March at 6.30pm at the north side of Waikanae Estuary. As well as an educational and enjoyable walk, there's an opportunity to chat one-on-one with the Mayor as well as a free sausage sizzle at the end of the walk.

For more information about Parks Week, visit kapiticoast.govt.nz/parksweek

3 March 2017