Soldiers have given the remains of the Ahu Ahu ohu a big clean-up and historic experts will now begin the process of deciding what will happen to it, Conservation Department historic and recreation ranger Jim Campbell says.
The former settlement of five houses and a community building was part of Norman Kirk's ohu scheme, which freed up unused Crown land for settlement. The people who took it up finally abandoned the place at the end of the 1990s.
The land is conservation land, and is under Treaty claim. The remains of the settlement could be a possible tourist attraction. They are a river crossing and about an hour's walk from the Te Tuhi Landing near Atene on the Whanganui River Rd.
Soldiers from Queen Alexandra's Mounted Rifles Wellington East Coast Company spent two nights at the former settlement last week, as well as working on Downes Hut and the Atene Skyline Track.
The work was done in consultation with local hapu Ngati Hineoneone. No buildings were altered and nothing was removed from the site.