Conservation Minister Tama Potaka has made the reinstatement of the walking access to Coromandels Cathedral Cove/Te Whanganui-a-Hei before next summer a priority.
Excellent. Prior to the Minister being involved, DOC were saying they wouldn't even make a decision on restoring access until the end of 2024. Now a few weeks later, the Minister has obviously told them this is unacceptable, and it will be reopened.
This is just one of many benefits of a change of Government. The former Minister just let DOC spend 12 months deciding to do nothing.
Of course there are safe options. Safe is not the same as risk free. If one allows any potential of risk to dictate access, then we would have no walking tracks anywhere!
So the battle isn't won. Having the Minister make access a priority helps immensely, but the power of bureaucratic inertia should not be underestimated!
David Farrar runs Curia Market Research, a specialist opinion polling and research agency, and the popular Kiwiblog where this article was sourced. He previously worked in the Parliament for eight years, serving two National Party Prime Ministers and three Opposition Leaders.
6 comments:
Well, that sounds great. Soon we'll be able to walk out to Cathedral Cove....again.
But will we be able to walk through the arch when we get there? Which is really the point of going.
DOC will probably fix the track but slap up a big fence saying it's just too dangerous. People have been doing it for centuries and taking the miniscule risk that a large chunk of rock will squash you as you walk through.
But under the precautionary principle, any risk is too much.
No doubt some Maori group/s will now decide the land is sacred to a taniwha or relative and now impose their own sanction ranging from barbwire to mandatory koha to keep the taniwha or ancient relatives happy.
Don't let WorkSafe know there may be some risk, they will have you in court.....
Struck me as greatly overrated and that was with very few others there. Seems DOC are terrified of a White Is situation. With many incomes far above basics, easy travel and no maintenance of modern homes and apartments, pressure on attractions is ruining them. Tracks and accommodation are no longer a challenge and thus an experience.. Maori can block access by finding a few kauri as they have so successfully done with Waitakere Regional Park, but no income generated (except for the maori favoured jobs, and endless consultation payments). they probably angling for accompanied tours (paid for of course).
Maybe wishful thinking of course, for local Maori may well succeed in their foreshore & seabed claim, putting an end to access without some pre-determined koha passing on each visit.
If that doesn't come to pass, maybe WorkSafe will insist the "Cathedral" is coned-off from the risk of potential failing debris, and of course the sea itself represents a known risk for drowning.
Does DOC receive fees whenever a tour operator takes a tourist to Cathedral Cove? Did the existence of commercial concessions play any role in DOC's reluctance to reinstate the track?
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