The development of Bings Wood was inevitable, due to its strategic position in the town, but it has the possibility to enable greater access to the most beautiful section of the Kerikeri River.
At the moment most of the eucalyptus trees have been felled and the task of removing the stumps and preparing the site will shortly commence. There have been a number of outline proposals, which include traffic routes and some green recreational areas, but all slightly different and so the final plan does not seem to be settled yet.
Opening new wlkin tracks may require a substantial budget, and it would require a plan for the whole area which would include access from the town to the river and an esplanade walk along the river from the Golf Club bridge to Fairey pool and on down the Peacock Gardens reserve.

Parts in the various plans are constant such as the two streams or drainage gullies that run from the flat land near the Kerikeri Road down to the river, the riparian strip alongside the river and some form of through route that takes traffic from Homestead Road or Fairway Drive through the site, connecting to the ends of Clark St, King St and Redwoods Motel driveway and exiting onto the Heritage Bypass. Plus, of course some 350 houses.

​In Kerikeri we are blessed with a number of walking tracks which start at the Stone Store Heritage area and go upstream, one along the Wairoa stream, another is the Rainbow Falls track and the last is the Southside track, which is on the town side of the Kerikeri River of which part was an informal section through Bings Wood and went from the town down to Fairey Pool, an FNDC reserve. If you walk the full circle, it is an 8.2 kilometre walk never more than 1.5 Kilometres from the town centre, and this is promoted for the town in the Five Waterfalls leaflet and website https://www.kerikeriwalks.kiwi/ . These walks are very popular and help make Kerikeri such a pleasant place to live and visit as a tourist.

​Several Kerikeri volunteer groups have made the case for linking the town to the river through the site and the initial outline proposal had an excellent wide green strip, dividing the whole site in two and with a café on the riverside. Making use of the drainage streams to have walking tracks alongside them could be another suggestion and, of course, the riparian strip along the river from the Golf Club bridge down to Fairy pools would be a lovely walk as this is probably the most picturesque part of the river.
If you continue walking downstream along the river you pass under the Heritage Bypass bridge and then on to the Peacock gardens reserve and from there the route continues as an unadopted track through the DOC area and eventually reaches the Stone Store heritage area.
 This is a very substantial walking route and deserves some well signposted access from the town to the river.

We have been busy putting new seats in to replace the ones that were time expired and to keep the cost down have used recycled wood and a few screws and bolts.

A bird which we believe is a Weka built a nest right next to the track. We quickly put up a fence and signs but were too late as the bird abandoned the nest. At least we know that we have Weka this side of the Bay of Islands. We will have to start trapping.  

Huge thanks to Vectis the roading and quarry company for improving the car park. We were expecting a generous gift of 10 cubic metres of metal but instead they sent a team of men with a digger and compacter to sort out the drainage and lay a proper section of road. This should sort out the huge section of mud in the entrance.

After nearly two years we now have a clear path to consents on both the FNDC Peacock Gds reserve and the DOC Booths Wharepuke Farm reserve. 
In the case of FNDC the procedure had not been formulated but Living Waters have negotiated and completed the first agreement which means that it can be repeated and we have the necessary forms to complete.
In the case of DOC an agreement for a track was never going to work and the agreement will be for planting the reserve with native trees, clearing weeds and starting a pest elimination trap line.
The whole procedure has to be completed but at least there is properly documented path leading to an outcome and we have the necessary forms.  

Despite the dry spring there is enough rain to start planting on the Peacock Garden reserve. We are  planting nice big trees and not huge numbers as we want to retain open spaces for people to enjoy.

During the last month the Fred Hollows volunteers have removed the logs for firewood and in the process cleared a big area in the reserve.
​Two medium sized logs were taken up to the Ngati Rehia carving school and can be used by students to practice carving Pou. Its not good wood but it would do for practice/

We have put a fence round the Peacock gardens reserve car park to stop people wandering into the neighbours garden and it all looks quite tidy.

The rain has finally arrived in sufficient quantities to fill the streams and we hope to have a team clearing the site and working out a planting schedule this friday.

​The whole track is looking very good and loads of people are enjoying the wonderful walks in the woodlands.

Several of the eucalyptus trees in the reserve were dead and a potential danger to walkers and so FNDC have arranged to have them felled. The contractor, Roy, cleared the site very well and left some big trunks that make good seats for weary walkers to stop and contemplate the river.
​The remaining logs will be taken by the Fred Hollows Foundation volunteers for firewood. It was great to see them on television and to hear that they have raised around $140,000 so far to restore sight to people in the Pacific Islands.

We completed the track count and the Southside track reached 146 in a week and the Wairoa had a massive 1084. A very satisfying number for tracks that were impossible to access two years ago and all done with volunteers.

The Peacock gardens reserve had a huge patch of Morning Glory which had to be cleared to make room for a Kerikeri High School project. Much thanks to Will Bingham and Ian McDermind for putting in a hard days work to get it cleared.  Before and after photos.

The grant from FNDC was to compete the network of track and promote them as a tourist attraction for Kerikeri and as a form of exercise for the locals. To this end we have produced a leaflet showing the beauty of the waterfalls and a detailed map to guide people round the network. The leaflet is in the Information Centre at Whangarei, Paihia and Kerikeri as well as motels and the library.
Real estate agents recognised the value of the tracks to potential house buyers and have included it in their big flyer. 
The promotional side has been a success and just in time for the Christmas holiday period. We hope to increase promotion for the Autumn and Spring shoulder holiday periods in the future.

Finding the start of a track is not always easy so we have put some signs in strategic places to point people in the right direction.

Many people have to drive to the start of the walk and then they need to park the car. We have made an entrance to the Peacock Gardens Reserve and we are hoping that the FNDC will put down a few loads of metal to improve the surface.  This will keep cars of the very small road and reduce inconvenience to the residents.

We know that more and more people are enjoying walking the tracks so have put the track counter in place to check the numbers. Currently it is running at between ten and twenty a day which is similar to the Wairoa when it was first opened.

There have always been small holes in the track and Marty at DOC has advised us that they are Kiwi worm feeding holes. As a result we will have to make a dog policy whereby people can exercise their dogs but protect the ground nesting birds. There are possums in both reserves so we may have to do a bit of trapping.