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Dedicated community efforts allowed the construction of the current wharf.
Plaques honouring those who contributed to the wharf construction.
Auckland Council has started restoring Warkworth Wharf on the Mahurangi River.
Council’s community facilities operations manager Paul Amaral says the wharf is over 20 years old and beginning to fail.
“This beautiful spot on the river is popular with locals and visitors to the town centre. The community built the existing wharf, in partnership with the council, and a lot has been invested in it and the surrounding walkway,” he says.
Work includes replacing all the timber decking, handrails, kick rails and pile caps along the length of the older section of the wharf, and removing naming plaques for safe keeping.
The current wharf was built after the community rallied to replace an earlier one considered too dangerous to remain standing.
In 1995, the Warkworth Riverbank Enhancement Group was formed, which raised thousands of dollars to construct the walkway between the bottom of Kapanui Street through to Lucy Moore Park, under the guidance of Warkworth resident Peter Thompson.
Warkworth historian Dave Parker says service clubs played a huge part in the fundraising, which included riverside dinners and big contributions from local businesses.
One of the most significant fundraisers was the sale of wharf plaques. Locals paid $50 to have a family inscription placed on the kickboard or up to $1000 for a pile. Mr Parker says it is proposed that all contributors over the past 26 years will still be acknowledged by having their names listed in the wharf kiosk for future reference.
He welcomes the re-planking saying the new hardwood will provide a safer surface.
Work is expected to be completed before the end of June.
