The Friends of the Ōtaki River (FOTOR) have just completed another highly successful year with the staging of the 15th Annual General Meeting.
Chairman Max Lutz told a full crowd at the Rotary Lounge that this had been a particularly busy year for the Friends and great progress had been made.
“I particularly want to thank the Executive Committee and our Volunteers who put in so much time and effort to enhance the Ōtaki River corridor,” said Mr Lutz.
“During the year there were no major flooding problems but several minor events were recorded. The Ōtaki River has been well managed by Greater Wellington Regional Council river managers and local staff, and the day to day maintenance and works by Geoff Evans and Graeme Winterburn.”
Mr Lutz noted that a record 150 attended the recent walkover. At the final stop of what was a very full day the FOTOR secretary Trevor Wylie expanded on plans for a greenfield picnic site alongside the viewing platform at the beach end of the river.
In his report Mr Lutz concluded “FOTOR has completed another very successful year and the group is stronger than ever as is the appreciation of its work by the wider Ōtaki community. GWRC staff regularly comment to me how easy they find working with FOTOR and are admiring of the projects it brings to fruition.”
The evening was concluded with a presentation from Rowan Oliver, Service Project Manager, NZTA who discussed the proposed Expressway, new river bridges and environmental reinstatement of the area.
For more info on FOTOR see the website: www.friendsoftheotakiriver.org
