Protect Piha Heritage Trust is a new group which will work to protect and enhance the natural, cultural and historic heritage of Piha.
Piha has a rich history including Maori occupation, kauri timber milling and the development of Piha as a scenic, conservation and holiday attraction for the people of Auckland.
It contains dramatic, varied landforms and landscapes, and diverse fauna and flora, from the oceans, windswept coastal dunes and cliffs, to lush rain forest with spectacular gorges and waterfalls.
Piha has developed as a unique coastal village, nestled in a valley of the Waitakere Ranges. It retains a slightly raw, off-the-edge feel, locals over a period of time having resisted urbanization and commercialisation. Land is limited as Piha is entirely surrounded by the Tasman Sea on its western border and by the Waitakere Ranges Regional Parkland to north, east and south.
The journey to Piha through the rugged forest clad hills, allows travellers to pass into another realm, where humans are subservient to the wilderness and the elemental forces of nature. Piha offers escape and respite to the people of Auckland from the pressures and burdens of everyday working life, where they can enjoy a simple, natural playground.
However, Piha’s natural and heritage assets are under threat from its very closeness to Auckland, as New Zealand’s largest and fastest growing metropolitan area. It hosts multitudes of visitors during the peak holiday periods, and development can threaten the natural environment and coastal settlement character.
Development threatens native bush through clearance, and pests, both plant and animal. Piha has an increasingly huge weed problem, which threatens the succession of native bush. Its proximity to conservation parkland, makes pest control a priority.
Protect Piha Heritage will support, promote and undertake projects to enhance and protect the natural and cultural heritage of Piha. This will include producing information in a variety of forms to promote recognition of Piha’s heritage, working with other groups and councils to protect heritage features, and advocacy for protection of the unique features of Piha, in line with the West Coast Plan.
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