closing off Lake Waikaremoana by stealth

I know there are other issues with Waikaremoana but he's talking about the road and I don't follow the reasoning. If the road remains unsealed then it's still at least as open, due to that, as it always has been.

I must admit I'm sympathetic to the idea of not sealing the highway. Part of the charm was the slow drive in; it gave you time to become immersed in the unique spirit of the place. On the other hand the rubbish story just says to me there is a management and education problem that has been neglected.

So Shane Jones is warning Tūhoe not to refuse his money? I'm always on the other side of Shane Jones.

Recalling that the seats on the governing body overseeing Te Uruwera are divided between iwi & govt based on the amount each spend on it ...

I'm not sure about spending, but the balance of the Board is set in law as a 6 to 3 split, in favour of Tuhoe. http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2014/0051/20.0/DLM6183734.html

Just to extend my first comment, most of us here, at least, probably don't complain about groups like FMC lobbying against endless helicopter flights over what are deemed as remote and/or wilderness areas. Some people out there reckon FMC is trying to shut down access to the parks. There's at least a sizable group however, probably including most of us, who can appreciate another perspective. What's the difference between something like that, and something like Tūhoe saying it doesn't like the idea of the road being sealed in a way that'll make access to Waikaremoana much easier? There are definitely issues with the rubbish and track facilities. Possibly some of that could be partly to do with whatever's happening inside Tūhoe, whether it's a lack of skills or a lack of resources, or a genuine disinterest from some with managing a Great Walk that it's effectively had thrown on it because DOC had already set it up on the land that was returned. One way or another those issues need to be figured out, whether it's by finding resources to fix them or by removing the Great Walk entirely, but sealing the road probably isn't going to compensate visitors for too much rubbish once they arrive, or for facilities that are failing once they get there. As Tāmati Kruger says it'll probably make those issues worse, especially if there's not a realistic and practical plan in place for managing the visitors it already gets.

Thanks for that @izogi. I stand corrected. My information came from Tūhoe when I was trying to find out their plans for the future of the Te Uruwera mainland island' and 'core' predator control programmes in about 2015 - at that time the core traplines seemed to have not been run or maintained since the settlement agreement. The information about governance being linked to funding came from them and may have related to that specific conservation project rather than the park itself, or may have been spurious.

The media response from Tūhoe: https://www.ngaituhoe.iwi.nz/vdb/document/579 Typical blustering rhetoric from grandstanding bully boy Shane Jones. Some of the finer details are in the last part of the Stuff article but why not frame the article from the viewpoint of the people who actually live there, stating what Tūhoe concerns are based on the part experience and highlighting the work being done on the alternate road surface material?

Interestingly when I was in the area November last year Tuhoe were trailing a new roading seal they had created themselves made from sap from a tree? Something towards those lines anyway. The experiment was towards Wairoa way as that is where most of the staff come from that service the area. I cant quite remember the details, but the short of it was if it stood up to the traffic they were going to seal the rest of the road with it, and Tuhoe would own the seal, so does that throw a political spanner in the works? who knows. I found the road in from Murapara to be excellent, a little knarly towards the end but 90% the best dirt road I have been on. If they were to seal it and encourage more to visit they need to do some SERIOUS maintenance to the huts and tracks in the area and make it abundantly clear whilst in the "plan a tramp stage" what is expected of us and them so we can make an informed choice. Its a long way to go to come away with a negative experience.