High Court orders halt to Te Urewera DoC hut demolitions by Tūhoe settlement entity, Te Uru Taumatua

Waiotukapiti Hut, one of the Department of Conservation back-country huts in Te Urewera given historic status within the department. Photo / Pete Shaw

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 in-depth hearing into the matter.

The Tūhoe settlement entity, Te Uru Taumatua, had planned to dismantle 48 huts which it said were derelict, though it said many would be replaced, and until then some temporary shelters would be put in place. The plan was also supported by the Department of Conservation.

The plan has 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 said he was concerned about the loss of access to Te Urewera for both 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 on Wednesday, 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.

Woolford said 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, Woolford noted.

A decision was made to destroy the huts, not believed to be “fit for purpose” and health and safety hazards, on May 17.

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

Woolford noted the destruction of the huts had caused “great distress and loss of wairua for the applicant and affects his Tūhoetana”.

Tuna asserted 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, Tūhoe trust.

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

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 also ordered a complete list of the huts that had been demolished or removed by 5pm on Wednesday.

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.