Pouakai Crossing $3.4m upgrade
The Pouakai Crossing is to get a new name as part of its multi-million dollar spruce-up.
A $3.4 million investment in the Taranaki tourist attraction was announced last week, as part of a $76m DOC tourism infrastructure package released through Budget 2017.
And on Wednesday Economic Development Minister Simon Bridges, and Conservation Minister Maggie Barry revealed more about how the money would be spent.
Barry said the finer details were still to be worked through with iwi and hapu, but the broader plan for the 'Taranaki Crossing' involved upgrading existing tracks, adding new bridges, toilets, signage and interpretation at an estimated cost of $1.8 million.
A further estimated $1.6 million will be required for on-going operating and maintenance, and other associated costs, she said.
The work is expected to be completed over a two to three-year period.
"The Government's announcement of $3.4 million towards enhancing the infrastructure on this crossing will support the development of what will be a truly world class experience in Taranaki," Barry said.
"We are developing a network of Great Short Walks and Great Day Walks because of increasing demand for activities that can be done in a day or less.
"The DOC estate is our biggest and best-known tourism asset and the new walks networks will ensure we can maximise the tourism benefits for biodiversity and threatened species protection.
"Overseas visitor numbers are set to reach 4.5 million in just five years and we need to be ready."
Bridges said the funding was is part of Taranaki's economic action plan and the government's regional growth programme.
The 'Make Way for Taranaki' project launched this week would help prepare an economic strategy and plan of action for Taranaki for the next 10 years.
"This [crossing funding] is the first step in working towards an economic action plan for the Taranaki region," Bridges said.
New Plymouth MP Jonathan Young said he welcomed the investment as a great step forward in establishing the crossing as a world class one-day walk.
He said he had supported improving the crossing since 2014, an idea he said was initially promoted by Taranaki mountain guide Rob Needs.
"This was all before Taranaki was in the international spotlight and poised for tourism growth. We believed in the project and now the crossing will be one of the centre-pieces of Taranaki's attraction."
A crossing project team was formed towards the end of 2014, which included the Department of Conservation, New Plymouth District Council, iwi leaders, Venture Taranaki and other individuals who presented the business case to the Government.
"It was a combined effort and great to see the 'Team Taranaki' approach we are proudly known for," Young said.
The Taranaki Crossing will help to ease the pressure on the immensely popular Tongariro Crossing and could be considered as part of a suite of Great Day walks on offer in central North Island, he added.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/92700260/pouakai-crossing-to-get-34m-toilet-and-track-upgrade
19 comments
11–19 of 19
Page: 12
DOC are only building one type of track now, highways for tourists..
I couldnt believe it when i saw big bags of gravel that had been helicoptered onto the top of the routeburn they were every 30 metres, ready to cover the track.... the track isnt muddy up there, its not needed to prevent erosion, the track i rocky up there... and DOC complain they are making a loss on the track.... the National govt are run by accountants who want to make a buck from every govt dept.. and DOC don't seem to be able to stop them from ramming their agenda through..... If you vote national. you can expect more of this... rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic..... They want to build a tourist attraction commemorating the extinct moa , but won't spend additional money saving species becoming extinct fast, wellington just lost the last local bat living in the region. National are just paying lip service to conservation, they'll do what they need to to keep the tourists happy and appear to make an effort.. but I doubt it will be enough to stop endandered species slip further towards extinction, except for the animals that are in captivity or the cutsy ones like Kakapo that get all the publicity, but there are speices that are far more endangered than Kakapo that not enough are being done about....
Well said Gaiters I couldn't agree more, this government doesn't do anywhere enough for our back country and biodiversity.
By all means vote for whichever party you think will make the best government, but don't stop telling and the presiding government what's wanted and needed.
I think FMC got it right in a recent facebook post, though. "America stands as a lesson as to what happens if they become partisan issues." https://www.facebook.com/FMCNZ/posts/1700961843282581
I've given up on this govt, they havent really listened to the science and opinion of people who are at the coal face of conservation and tramping, they just keep following the path they want to follow of make more money, the conservation is a cash cow to them, they'll look after it as much as they think they have to , for it to be enough of a cash cow...
I really really want what Gaiters wants......
In my local area DOC there seems to be a move away from having DOC staff who know how to do stuff in the hills (almost no-one left who is allowed to use a chainsaw) to using contractors (no guarantee they have the backcountry skills too). Also this thing of only doing a specific/programmed task and not doing the other stuff that would take very little time while already there, seems to be creaping in. Some of this is funding related and some of it is just the way DOC is doing things.
Hi Wayne. I guess the risk of that approach is that most people don't choose a government on a single issue. When they do, it's often something other than conservation policy. There's a substantial chance we'll be stuck with this government for at least another term if not longer, even if many of its voters agreed that an alternative would be better for conservation.
Make it a partisan issue and there's only a government likely to care at all for part of the time, and probably less than half. It's valuable to at least keep trying to work with all potential governments to do everything possible to ensure that no matter who is governing, there's a higher chance that they'll at least recognise the most fundamental important values.
the way a govt looks after the environment and the less fortunate says a lot about the govt, those are key issues,
if a govt makes a decent effort on those issues then they are showing that they really care...
but endangered species arent voting tax payers, so the govt can do what they like with them if they dont care about the wider issues...
if the govt dont really care , then its really everyone for themselves, as long as you have a job that pays the bills and lets you put something aside for your retirement, you'll be ok, but if you don't , as so many NZers don't know, then look out, the future could be grim...
people have been telling the govt for years about problems in conservation, this govt has been the worst in recent history in the way they treat conservation... not to mention other issues unrelated to this forum or thread. It's a shame with all the kiwis who were brought up tramping, theres no decent trampers in the current govt really fighting for conservation.
its all about how to make more money out of everything,, intensify farming as much as possible and push the land past its limits to the point the environment degrades....
large parts of the south island have thin soils, when you put intensive dairy farms on them they are far worse than north island farms. far more of the effluent percolates through the soil down through the stony ground into the underground aquifers and contaminate above ground waterways as well...
this govt are happy to flog everything to its limit to make the rich as rich as possible. flood the country with as many immigrants as we can cram in on as many double decker airplanes,,, most of you won't have seen the additions going on to auckland international airport, they are adding several more terminals to take more aircraft, the addition is massive, its a significant increase in capacity, then they will build another runway for domestic aircraft , so the main runway can prioritise on landing international flights.... and the immigrants will flood the countryside, overpopulate various tracks and huts....
True. I guess my point, though, it to keep trying to work with the government regardless, and not simply focus on a change to some other government as being the solution to all the problems.
Like it or not, we're stuck with whichever government wins each election. For any number of reasons, most of which have nothing to do with conservation or the environment, that's unlikely to be the best party for conservation policy much of the time.
The best outcome for conservation isn't to have recurring changes between a good government and a bad one, which just leads to one government repeatedly undoing the other's good work. It's to have cross-party support for the most important fundamental values. The best way to achieve that is to convince the voting public, including all parties' supporters, of those values, instead of just banking on some alternative government getting into power for a few years and then being voted out again.
i have nothing else to say about teh current govt than expletives, theres little good about what they are doing with conservation, any other political party is unlikely to do a worse job...
11–19 of 19
Page: 12
Search the forums
| Forum | Tracks, routes, and huts |
|---|---|
| Started by | waynowski |
| On | 17 May 2017 |
| Replies | 18 |
| Permanent link | |
Participation in the forums signifies acceptance of forum rules.
In order to manage spam, new members are limited to 1 post every 10 minutes.
Formatting your posts
The forums support MarkDown syntax. Following is a quick reference.
| Type this... | To get this... | |
|---|---|---|
| Italic | *Italic text* | *Italic text* |
| Bold | **Bold text** | **Bold text** |
| Quoted text | > Quoted text | > Quoted text |
| Emojis | :smile: :+1: :astonished: :heart: | :smile: :+1: :astonished: :heart: |
| Lists |
- item 1 - item 2 - item 3 |
- item 1 - item 2 - item 3 |
| Links | https://tramper.nz | https://tramper.nz |
| Images |  URL/of/image |
 |
| Mentions | @username | @username |