Residents oppose DoC's walk around their lake

Lindsay Spence, Montie Baskett, Juliet Spence and Ron Baskett are unhappy with the Tarawera Trail plans. Photo / Alan Gibson

From the lookout past Rotorua's Buried Village, tourists marvel at the views of Lake Tarawera and the mountain beyond.

Not a building is in sight - only the lake's blue waters, hills covered in ponga and other native trees, and the scoria cliffs of Mt Tarawera.

It is this unspoiled landscape that residents on the lake's western shores say will be ruined if a 42km walking track around the lake goes ahead.

The Department of Conservation is planning to build the track, dubbed the Tarawera Trail, to promote tourism and create economic opportunities for Maori trusts which own land on the eastern shores.

It describes the trail as "a high-quality, multi-day walk in a natural landscape" similar to the track around Lake Waikaremoana.

But a group of Lake Tarawera residents has formed an association to oppose the plan, saying large numbers of walkers will destroy the fragile and unique environment.

The Lake Tarawera Conservation Society is particularly opposed to plans to build lodges on the uninhabited eastern shores to accommodate trampers on the three-day walk.

"Once human habitation starts on the other side of the lake, it will continue," spokesman Ron Baskett said.

"It's the beginning of the end."

Mr Baskett, who is in his 60s and has been associated with the lake all his life, said construction of the track would require major earthworks and building of bridges and boardwalks to cross the difficult terrain.

Such structures would destroy what was an untouched environment and waste up to $10 million of taxpayers' money for the benefit of a few private interests.

In a proposal summary last year, DoC put the project cost at $4.5 million, but the figure had risen to $6.5 million when the plan was discussed at a meeting of the department and the Maori trusts in January.

Mr Baskett believes the project's cost is likely to be much higher because he said DoC had yet to survey some of the most inaccessible parts of the planned route.

The conservation society is also accusing DoC of a lack of transparency and consultation.

Mr Baskett's son, Montie, a lawyer, said he had been forced to use the Official Information Act to get details of the project, and DoC's reply had revealed that no environmental impact assessment had been done on the proposed trail.

He said this was unacceptable considering DoC had tabled a bid to the Cabinet for $6.5 million.

DoC Rotorua Lakes area manager Nicola Douglas did not return calls from the Herald yesterday and on Monday.

But in a letter to the Lake Tarawera Ratepayers Association last week, she said the department intended to consult ratepayers once an investigation into alignment options for a third stage of the project was complete in October.

DoC plans to build the track in three stages, beginning with an 11km walkway from near the Buried Village to Te Ariki, between Lake Tarawera and Lake Rotomahana.

Ms Douglas told the ratepayers DoC had obtained "agreements in principle" from most of the Maori trusts and a key part of the plan had always been to create economic opportunities for the landowners.

The Daily Post newspaper reported that local iwi would be involved in guiding and providing the tourist accommodation, but residents questioned the economic benefits for the Tuhourangi hapu.

Lindsay Spence said DoC had already failed to upgrade existing tracks around the lake and the proposed lodges could become "huge millstones" for Maori if tourist numbers did not live up to expectations.

He also worried that an influx of trampers would affect the lake's fragile water quality.

His wife, Juliet, who is secretary of the ratepayers' association, said she did not necessarily oppose the plan, but wanted more information from DoC.