A working party has now been established for the New Zealand World War One Memorial Forest which will see 18,166 trees planted across the Coromandel.

During a recent meeting of community groups, the working party was established to help progress the project and consists of representatives from each of the five community board areas.

A working party has now been established for the NZ WW1 Memorial Forest, which will see more than 18,000 trees planted across the Coromandel Peninsula. Image: TCDC

This recent meeting was also attended by representatives from the Waikato Regional Council, Department of Conservation, Forest and Bird and school representatives.

To date, ‘The Paddock' above Cathedral Cove and the new Whitianga cemetery have been identified as 'ideal sites' to commemorate battles such as Messines, Gallipoli and Passchendaele.

Other smaller battles like Le Quesnoy and the Palestine campaign are likely to be commemorated at the Durrants Dr Reserve in Whangamata, and the Tangitarori Walkway in Pauanui.

A site in Coromandel township has yet to be identified.

'We're looking for an initial planting of two signature trees at each site on Anzac Day,” Thames-Coromandel District Council mayor Glenn Leach says. 'Then holding an initial planting day about a month later for the schoolchildren and community groups for the first 100 trees.

'The objective will be to finish all the plantings and complete the Memorial Forest at a ceremony on November 11, 2018 [which will be] the 100th anniversary of the end of WW1.”

Glenn says there will also be an opportunity for people throughout New Zealand to participate in the Memorial Forest to acknowledge their families who took part in the war.

The TCDC is proposing to GPS the trees, and there will be an opportunity for people to purchase a tree in the name of their family member.

The NZ WW1 Memorial Forest working party members:

• Thames - Mark Binning (RSA), Craig Cassidy (Community Board)
• Whitianga - Tony Fox (Councillor), Paul Kelly (Community Board chair), and John Wright (Mercury Bay Area School).
• Coromandel - Keith Stephenson (Community Board), Alison Henry (Kauri 2000), Asha Peppiatt (Coromandel Area School)
• Tairua-Pauanui - Garry Fowler (Hikuai District Trust), Kim Coppersmith (Community Board), Bob Renton (Community Board chair)
• Whangamata: Jack Wells (Councillor), School representative, and community representatives (Lions and RSA).

For more information about the WW1 Memorial Forest Project click here.