Battle raging over walkway plan

A war of words is raging between a developer and a conservation group over a proposed $6 million treetop walkway for a prized area of the West Coast.

The developer, Airwalks managing director Thomas Frank, has accused the "so-called" Friends of the Gorge group of spreading misinformation and lies about the plan to erect a 600m elevated steel walkway in the Hokitika Gorge Scenic Reserve.

But the Friends of the Gorge says Mr Frank is another greedy developer trying to take advantage of the West Coast's unspoiled natural beauty.

"I think he is naive, and greatly under-estimates the depth of feeling about our special places in New Zealand," said Friends of Gorge spokesman Carey Dillon.

The West Coast has long been the country's battleground between development and conservation.

The treetop walkway proposal was put forward by Airwalks in 2003 and was initially agreed to in principle by the Department of Conservation.

However after public submissions and a hearing before a commissioner it was rejected.

Last month about 65 people marched on the Hokitika office of the Department of Conservation with a petition bearing 3334 names in support of the walkway.

Mr Frank met DoC officers after the march and said he presented a formal request for the proposal to be reconsidered.

But Mr Dillon contacted the Herald this week to say no formal request for reconsideration had been received by DoC.

And a DoC spokesperson told the Herald: "The department has not received a formal written request from Mr Frank for a reconsideration of the Airwalks decision. There is no legal time limit for which he has to do this."

Mr Frank said there might have been confusion because the material to support the request had not been supplied to DoC as yet.

He said the petition presented to DoC showed the Friends of the Gorge represented a "small minority" opposed to the walkway.

"What needs to be differentiated is that concerns and emotions may be very real, but it is a matter of saying: what is only emotion and what is based on fact?"

Mr Dillon said the walkway would dominate the small scenic reserve.