One of two slips on the West End to Ōtarawairere Point lookout track where the track has completely fallen away. Photo / LDR
One of two slips on the West End to Ōtarawairere Point lookout track where the track has completely fallen away. Photo / LDR
The Whakatāne community will be able to put forward proposals for the reinstatement of the track between West End and Ōtarawairere Point thanks to a decision made at a council committee meeting this week.
The projects and services committee faced a full gallery of people on Thursday interested inthe future of the track, as the council had when volunteers presented their ideas for rebuilding the track in December.
The committee was presented with almost 150 pages of technical reports and a recommendation from staff that the track reinstatement not be funded due to the high likelihood of further slips and that other routes be investigated.
Another three options put forward for consideration included reinstating the existing track with cantilevered boardwalks across both landslides and stability works; constructing an alternative route to bypass the existing section of track, including a staircase up the face of the first landslide and stability works; or permanently closing the track between West End and Ōtarawairere Point Lookout.
Deputy Mayor Julie Jukes proposed a modified option to seek proposals from the community for the repair and reinstatement of the existing track.
“The rationale behind that is that the council will still have the ability to determine if the community proposal is suitably resourced and meets the council’s quality, health and safety and maintenance and funding requirements,” Jukes said.
She also recommended investigation of the availability of the $451,000 funding granted by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment from its now defunct Tourism Infrastructure Fund, to support the project.
Mayor Nandor Tanczos thanked the public for their interest and advocacy for the popular walkway.
“There’s been some comments about how this is really easy and ‘we can do it with a teaspoon’. I’m not sure it’s going to be as easy as people expect ... Having said that, we absolutely want to give the community a chance to have a go at it. I’m really confident that the community will come up with some really good solutions.”
He said community involvement in what the council did was invaluable.
Community volunteers Angus Robson and Austin Oliver had huge support in December when they presented their plan to the council to reinstate the track using volunteers. Photo / Supplied
“There’s obvious benefits for us as a council. There’s financial benefits ... but possibly more important is the community ownership that happens as a result – the buy-in and community-building that comes from being part of something, building something for our community and for future generations.”
He acknowledged that New Zealand had lost something as a country with health and safety legislation that made it more difficult to involve the community in projects.
“Our staff are personally liable. We have to be really aware of that.”
He noted that elected members were exempt from liability.
“We cannot put our staff at risk of things that we are exempt from, but I think we can find a way through.”
The committee also passed a resolution that if the track was to be reinstated, development of Ngā Tapuwae O Toi Walkway into an official Department of Conservation Short Walks and Day Hikes track would be explored.
– LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
