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There's plenty to see and do at the estuary.
The estuary walkway provides beautiful views, and there are signs along the way providing information about some of the birds you might see.
There is a lot of interesting wildlife at the estuary. As well as birds, the estuary is also home to some interesting plants and is an important habitat for native fish.
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The Manawatū Estuary Trust enjoys giving people the opportunity to learn more about this amazing environ
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Legislation can be divided into three main sections - National, Regional and District, all of which will cover many aspects of use and protection of the Estuary.
Those on a National level cover the whole country. The Regional encompasses groups of districts. Horowhenua is our local district and is grouped with other districts to create the Manawatū-Whanganui Region (called Horizons).
National legislation directs Regional legislation and Regional legislation directs District legislation.
Click on each banner to access either National, Regional and District legislation, each of which will contain links applicable to the Estuary and surrounding area. These will be divided further into categories, if needed, such as wildlife, water, land etc and will have links to main pages, if present on the website.
Horowhenua District Council Legislation
The full range of Policies and Bylaws applicable on a local level can be viewed here........... Local Bylaws and Policies
The recently updated Public Placed Bylaw in available here..........Public Places Bylaw 2024
The recently updated Dog Control Bylaw is not yet available as a link, but the previous version can be viewed here.........Dog Control Bylaw 2015
​The Local Waters Combined Bylaw came into effect on 1 July 2025 and means there is now one combined bylaw covering all our local water services. Previously there were three different Bylaws (Water Supply, Wastewater and Trade Waste) and no Stormwater Bylaw. All previous bylaws can be viewed through Local Bylaws and Policies.
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​Horizons Regional Council Legislation
Much of the legislation applicable to both the Manawatū River and Estuary is governed by Horizons Regional Council. The overarching bylaw is https://www.horizons.govt.nz/flood-emergency-management/river-safety and the foreword to this document is reproduced below to give an idea of the scope this covers. Please refer to this for any information needed if planning to use the river for either commercial or recreational purposes as some restrictions may apply.​
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Water quality data is available here if you are planning to be in the water for whatever reason. The other main recreational use is whitebaiting and the current regulations can be found here.
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For more detail on the various tasks undertaken by Horizons in relation to flood management, please consult
Aotearoa New Zealand Legislation​
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The Aotearoa New Zealand Government has its own website specifically dedicated to legislation and is available here.
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Perhaps the most important legislation for the area is the ​​Wildlife Act. This is a comprehensive document covering all aspects of wildlife protection. When the link above is activated, it takes you to the contents page where each section has a link to the subject covered. A link to secondary legislation is included but has only a limited implication for our area.​​
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When searching for specific content, those items will be highlighted yellow.
