Since 2004, most of the walkways running alongside the Waikato River in Cambridge have been upgraded. A remaining 200m long section has been scheduled to be realigned and resurfaced this year.
However, a recent site inspection identified two declining eucalypt trees that need to be removed prior to the walkway upgrade.
Max Ward, Council's Asset Manager Recreation said that although just the two declining eucalypt trees were initially tagged for removal, significant costs meant it was more worthwhile to include other works in the scheduled tidy up.
"We are also taking the opportunity to clear fell the section of the river bank between the large stand of eucalypts and the Fergusson Bridge. This will see the removal of the declining eucalypts, some pine trees and poorer specimen gum trees. These costs will be offset because some of the trees have commercial value. After we have cleared the site, the area will be replanted."
Environment Waikato will also be using the same contractor to remove some fallen trees from the river. This is an ideal opportunity, as they did not previously have a land-based way of removing the trees, and using a barge on the river was very costly and risky for them.
Logging work is scheduled to commence on October 24, and should be completed in two weeks. Once the site has been cleared, the track upgrade work will begin, and is expected to take a further 7-10 days. All works should be finished by mid November.
During the works, a signed walking track detour will be in place.
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