$650,000 spent on mistake
A lobby group for the Craggy Range Track says the money spent building and later cleaning up the track has been money down the drain.
The comment comes in the wake of the Hastings District Council’s recent announcement it was seeking resource consent to remediate the track.
A spokesman for the Te Mata Peak Peoples’ Track Society, Xan Harding, says council has had to spend thousands just to get back to square one.
“A $300,000 donation by Craggy Range has been destroyed and now the council is up to over $600,000 just to get us back to square one.
“So that’s a million dollars, wasted.”
However, he said the group was pleased the council was fronting up to the mistakes it made by not notifying the public about the original consent application to build the track.
He said the failed communication destroyed what could have been a fantastic asset, however felt there were a few upsides to the situation.
“Some of that money that council has spent already has gone into really, really useful and groundbreaking cultural work.”
He said the whole saga of events also showed the community has an interest in the eastern side of Te Mata, not just the western side.
The society is looking at alternatives to ensure the eastern side of the track was accessible for those who wanted to use it for recreation, while also ensuring everyone was comfortable with whatever path or track ended up on the peak.
The group understood hapu, especially in Waimarama, wanted to see the current track fixed prior to looking at the future of the eastern side of Te Mata Peak.
While the society had formed to protect the track, Harding said they would not be opposing the consent to have it remediated.
“We take the point of view that it’s evolved into a broader conversation where we can represent the views of the majority of the public who were comfortable with the notion of access.
“But it has to be done very respectfully.”
Mayor Sandra Hazlehurst said the council had been working with the Te Mata Track reference group, which has representatives from key stakeholders, and had been given a strong message from the community they are ready to move forward.
“The council wanted to show leadership to set a clear direction for our community and stakeholders in terms of the future of our beloved Te Mata Peak.”
Nga¯ti Kahungunu and Craggy Range have both been approached for comment.
The council estimates obtaining resource consent will cost $50,000 and the remediation work will cost $150,000. So far the council has spent $450,000 on the eastern escarpment project, with $360,000 of that going into research.