High Court reprieve for DoC huts in Te Urewera

Stay of execution: Urewera huts yet to be demolished or dismantled have been given a High Court reprieve. Picture by Benjamin Pigott

The High Court has ordered an immediate halt to the planned destruction of a network of Department of Conservation huts throughout Te Urewera pending a more indepth hearing into the matter.

The Tūhoe settlement entity, Te Uru Taumatua, had planned to dismantle 48 huts which it said were derelict.

It said many would be replaced and until then some temporary shelters would be put in place.

The plan, supported by the Department of Conservation, galvanised wider discontent among some hapū against Te Uru Taumatua with some Tūhoe joining numerous protests in recent weeks, alongside a range of hunters and recreationists.

Wharenui Clyde Tuna, who is also Tūhoe, took the Te Uru Taumatua trustees to the High Court to stop the programme.

He was concerned about the loss of access to Te Urewera for himself and his whānau who “use the huts as a base for food gathering, recreational and cultural purposes”.

In a ruling released by the High Court in Rotorua yesterday, Justice Mark Woolford said the Te Urewera Board and the trustees of Tūhoe - Te Uru Taumatua, their employees and contractors, must “immediately cease their programme to demolish or remove the huts”.

He issued an “interim interim order” to cease all hut removals until an application for an interim order could be properly heard.

Justice Woolford said Mr Tuna's whakapapa connected him to all the hapū of Waimana and other hapū across Te Urewera.

“He has a relationship with Te Urewera that transcends the physical contemporary world, a relationship that is founded in past, present and future generational connection with Te Urewera.”

The huts, the oldest of which was built in the 1950s, have been used by Tūhoe and the general public, including trampers and hunters as a base for their activities in Te Urewera.

The huts have provided shelter for hapū of Tūhoe when visiting Te Urewera to gather food for cultural purposes, or for recreation, Justice Woolford noted.

Mr Tuna said he believed between 15 and 20 huts have been burnt down by employees or contractors from about early October.

The judge said the destruction of the huts had caused “great distress and loss of wairua for the applicant and affects his Tūhoetana”.

Mr Tuna said the iwi organisation had not followed proper processes nor engaged in appropriate consultation.

Following the settlement of Tūhoe's Treaty of Waitangi claims in 2013, Te Urewera was declared a legal entity and its governance and management vested in Te Urewera Board made up of three Crown and six Tūhoe members.

Crown improvements within Te Urewera (including the huts), however, remain vested in the Crown in accordance with management and operation plans set by the board and Te Uru Taumatua.

Mr Tuna said in “absence” of such plans the planned demolitions were unlawful.

Justice Woolford said there was no “demonstratable disadvantage to the huts remaining pending a hearing of the application for an interim order”.

Along with ordering contractors to cease all demolition work, he ordered a complete list be compiled of the huts that had been demolished or removed.

Conservation Minister Poto Williams declined to comment as the case remained before the courts.

The Herald has not yet received a reply from the trustees of Tūhoe – Te Uru Taumatua.

A spokesman told Stuff they would be complying with the interim injunction which had been sought without notice to the organisation.

The arguments about the case had not yet been heard and a statement from the organisation was due to be issued, he said.