Progress on consenting process for Te Ara O Hei Walk

Work towards lodging resource consent for Stage One of Te Ara O Hei Walk and a car park at Lees Rd is to be progressed, subject to certain terms being met.

The proposed route of Te Ara O Hei Walk, is from Ferry Landing to the iconic Blowhole site at Te Pupuha Recreation Reserve.

It is proposed that four separate consents are lodged for the various stages of the walk, as some stages may take longer than others to work through with different communities, stakeholders and landowners

"Work to progress these consents, to be ready for formal lodgement is going to take some time," says Ross Ashby, our Council's project manager for the Walks project. "We want to be sure that we have all the information, costings and details complete and that we go through this with affected parties and stakeholders before any formal lodgement takes place," says Mr Ashby.

"So what we are proposing for notification could change and could take longer," he says.

"We are also extremely mindful that there are issues around infrastructure, including water and wastewater that need to be addressed at Hahei, which is extremely high on Council's priority list," he says.

Our Council staff will continue to work with Hahei Residents and Ratepayers around the important issue of Hahei infrastructure.

Meanwhile, once the outcome of the different consents is known, we will then still work with community and project partners on the timing and order of any construction works.

The four consents proposed are:

• Stage 1A. From the Hahei Village Entrance car park at Pa Road to the Blowhole site. Lodgement of this consent is subject to the management of the Grange Rd/Beach Rd car parks being transferred from Department of Conservation over to our Council. At this stage we are proposing this consent would be limited notified to directly affected parties.

• The Lees Road car park, proposed kiosk and associated works, including the central track. Given the high public interest, it is proposed that this consent application would be publicly notified.

• Stage 1B, the western track and the walking track along Lees Road through to Stellar Evered reserve to the Purangi estuary. We are proposing lodgement of this consent would be limited notified to directly affected parties.

• Stage 1C, the track from Purangi to Ferry Landing. We are proposing at this stage this application would be non-notified.

To find out more about our Walks project and the proposed Te Ara O Hei Walk project click here.

Short and Great Day Walks announced by Department of Conservation.

The Cathedral Cove Walk will become part of a new network of Great Short and Great Day Walks in an announcement by the government this week.

The Great Day and Great Short Walks, developed by DOC in partnership with Tourism New Zealand, are an expansion of the highly successful Great Walks brand aimed at promoting more of the fantastic walking experiences available across the country.

“Cathedral Cove Walk will be promoted as part of a ‘Short Walks’ product set both nationally and internationally, the intent is also that individual walks from this product set that are not currently used to their full potential will also be promoted individually – Cathedral Cove walk will not be one of these," says David Speirs, DOC's Operations Director (Hauraki-Waikato-Taranaki).

"The inclusion of Cathedral Cove Walk in the ‘Short Walks’ product set provides an opportunity for an associated promotion approach encouraging people to experience the walk in off-peak times and in the future to experience the longer coastal walkway that is proposed to be Te Ara O Hei," says Mr Speirs.

There is $76M in the government's 2017 budget for investment in DOC infrastructure, which will allow DOC to better manage the impact of visitor growth, while also protecting biodiversity and threatened species.

The new networks will be officially launched by DOC and Tourism New Zealand in October this year.

Great Short Walks (30 minutes to 3 hours)
o Mt Manaia, Northland
o Mangawhai Cliff, Northland
o Rangitoto Summit, Auckland
o Cathedral Cove, Coromandel
o Wainui Falls, Golden Bay
o Charming Creek, West Coast
o Cape Foulwind, West Coast
o Devil’s Punchbowl, Arthur’s Pass
o Kura Tawhiti, Canterbury
o Lake Matheson, West Coast
o Fox Glacier, West Coast
o Tasman Glacier View, Mt Cook
o Blue Pools, Haast Pass
• Lake Gunn, Fiordland

Great Day Walks (4-6 hours)
o Te Whara - Bream Head, Northland
o Cape Kidnappers, Hawkes Bay
o Tongariro Alpine Crossing, Ruapehu
o Hooker Valley, Aoraki
o Roy’s Peak, Wanaka

Extended Closure of Kauaeranga Valley Road, Tracks and Pinnacles Hut.

Unforeseen delays on the repair of the Kauaeranga Valley Road following the extreme weather events earlier this year means a delay of the opening of the road and the Kauaeranga Valley facilities.

This includes Pinnacles Hut, Dancing Creek and Billy goat Basin Campsites and the Campsites located in the Valley past the Visitor Centre. DOC expect the facilities to remain closed until 20 December 2017.

It was expected extensive repairs on the road would be completed in time for Labour Weekend but that has now become impractical. Full 100% refunds will be given on all bookings held from 19 October until 20 December 2017 on all facilities.

DOC passes on its regret for the inconvenience and are endeavouring to have the road, tracks and hut reopened as soon as is feasible.

Updates will be on the DOC website www.doc.govt.nz or please feel free to ring the Kauaeranga Visitor Centre on 07 867 9080.

ENDS

© Scoop Media