"Hamurana Springs Incorporated Society(HSIS) was formed by the Hamurana community out concern for the dilapidated state that the Hamurana Springs Recreation Reserve had become under the two previous concession holders.

The Hamurana Springs are administered by the Dept. of Conservation(DoC) and HSIS works closely in conjunction with Doc, working to a ten year ecological plan that was prepared for DoC by independent consultants. As the Hamurana Springs is under a claim before the Waitangi Tribunal, the local iwi, Ngati Rangiwewehi, and HSIS drew up a Memorandum of Understanding between the two parties, which, after some discussion, was duly signed by both parties with DoC as an interested third party. So now we have a fairly unigue tripartite arrangement for the on-going management and restoration of the Hamurana Springs Recreational Reserve.

The main initial thrusts has been to remove noxious plants and other weeds which were very clearly identified in the Ecological Plan (see attached document). To achieve this, along with replanting of cleared areas, a minimum of six working bees are held each year and advertised extensively for local community support and participation.

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One of the main barriers to carrying out the “weed busting” has been to have the right heavy equipment available to remove the larger noxious plants – wattle, willows in the stream bed etc. Without DoC’s assistance none of this could be done but even DoC has limited funds and competing priorities.

Significant progress has been made in spraying blackberry, which was rampant after nearly ten years of neglect, prior to crushing by machinery, where possible. This task is important because approximately 50% of the areas designated for replanting were covered by blackberry initially.

The primary objective of HSIS is to restore the Hamurana Springs to its former state, i.e. in the 1970’s, initially and then to extend and enhance the accessibility to the Reserve to enrich the visitor experience."