Kia ora koutou,
As we come to the end of another busy year at Summerhill, it’s a good moment to pause and reflect on what our community has achieved together. This year has been one of growth, collaboration, and significant progress across the whenua. From thousands of visitors enjoying our trails and events, to the many hands involved in restoration, predator control, education, planning, and the upgrade or addition of amenities for the community, Summerhill continues to thrive because of the people who care about it.
Thank you to our volunteers, partners, funders, supporters, and everyone who walked a track, planted a tree, attended an event, or contributed in any way. Your enthusiasm, hard work, and belief in Summerhill’s mission continue to make a real difference.
We look forward to an exciting year ahead and sharing more of Summerhill with you in 2026.
Best Wishes,
Summerhill Charitable Trust
A Snapshot of 2025...
Patrick from Silvipath teaching chainsaw skills to a Te Puke High School student.
One of our weekly kindergarten groups - New Shoots - off on a misty adventure.
Ag. students of Toi Ohomai giving Hamish a hand, and training in sheep handling skills.
Summerhill Base
One of the standout milestones for 2025 has been the completion of our new community centre, Summerhill Base, made from timber from our forests and insulated with wool from our sheep. We opened the doors at the beginning of May, and it has seen a steady stream of activity. From local clubs and for-purpose organisations, wellness days, corporates and school groups to mountain biking events, and families seeking a place to gather, the feedback has been incredibly encouraging. It’s clear the community has embraced the space. We warmly invite you to book the Base for your event!
AIMS Games 2025 was a huge success- congratulations to DirtCraft and Mountainbike TGA for another great event. Summerhill also had the pleasure of hosting the North Island Secondary and Western Bay Primary School MTB champs this year- both organised by DirtCraft and MTB TGA.
Pāpāmoa College student, Jess Hambrook, installing the new beginners orienteering course. Jess designed the course for the community to enjoy with the help of Orienteering BOP.
Weekly visitors, Te Manawa ō Pāpāmoa Primary School students positioning one of their lovely hand made bug hotels.
Carpark Upgrade
Our very tidy new carpark is providing a much better experience for users with proper drainage, increased capacity and improved layout.
The Summerhill Skedaddle fun run raised over $3,000 this year, helping fund trail maintenance work.
Pāpāmoa College Poutama Crew on trail maintenance- an awesome help this year.
Local kids celebrating after completing our new orienteering course- thanks to Jess Hambrook and Orienteering BOP.
Woolshed Floor Upgrade
Our woolshed has a new floor! The old one had become unsafe with soft spots and holes, but with support from Grassroots Trust we were able to replace it.
Native Revegetation Project
The harvesting of exotic trees and replanting of native species is ongoing at Summerhill. With the recent harvest of 1ha of cyprus, we look forward to planting more native trees in Autumn 2026.
Following the harvest of 1 ha of cypress below the woolshed in late 2024, we returned to the site in Autumn 2025 to plant 2,000 native plants. This work was made possible with the generous support of Trees That Count and Thorne Group.
Life Skills supported us in planting a few hundred shrubs in the Skills Park, helping to enhance the area and keep it weed free.
Predator Control
Our predator control team continues to do outstanding work across Summerhill. This year has involved ongoing trapline maintenance, relocations where needed, and improvements driven by both volunteers and monitoring. The dedication of community volunteers has helped to greatly reduce pest pressure at Summerhill, supporting the regeneration of birdlife and the growth of newly planted native trees. We are grateful for the time, skill, and commitment that goes into this work, and we look forward to building on these efforts in the year ahead with an extension of the network and a focus on wildcats and mustelids.
Special thanks to Bay Conservation Alliance for helping to fund our new volunteer shed, a cat trap sensor and more trapinators for our planned network extension.
Structures
In collaboration with AKL School of Architecture and their thesis students, we’ve added another really cool structure to Summerhill - ‘Tree Hugger’ by Anthony Washer. It’s located next to the Skills Park and we hope you come and check it out with the kids soon!
