Lance Roosendaal from Rafting Adventure takes a family group on the Rangitaiki River using the new staircase from the Aniwhenua Power Station. Photo / Troy Baker
Lance Roosendaal from Rafting Adventure takes a family group on the Rangitaiki River using the new staircase from the Aniwhenua Power Station. Photo / Troy Baker
One of the district’s best whitewater rafting spots has become much more accessible, thanks to the energy company that manages one of the hydroelectric power stations on the river.
The 10km stretch of the Rangitaiki River, between the Aniwhenua Power Station and its crossing with Galatea Rd, is a rafting experience that has grade 2 (mild) whitewater, is scenic and suitable for the whole family – once you get to it.
Several rafting companies make trips to the site from Rotorua, including Rafting Adventures, run by Whakatāne’s Lance Roosendaal.
Roosendaal told Local Democracy Reporting the new stairs had changed that part of the river from a grade 5 in difficulty to a grade 2.
“The river is grade 2 but the entry to it was a grade 5.”
Until earlier this year, reaching the entry point at the power station involved a scramble down a steep, rocky incline from the carpark to the water’s edge.
This limited those able to make the trip to those capable of the difficult descent.
Recognising this, Southern Generation and Pioneer Energy, which partners in managing the power station, has put over $100,000 into creating stairs for river users.
Power station manager Craig Rowe said the directors of the company recognised the community recreational value of the river and decided to build the stairs after looking at the risk to members of the public in entering the river.
He said the stairs took about six months to put in place, from engineering to planning and building and were finished in January.
The stairs use a concrete block set in the riverbank which once supported a crane.
“It is very well engineered and, the lower part, especially, has had to be made very robust as it will be covered by water during flooding events.”
Former Bay of Plenty regional councillor Bill Clark, who has been campaigning for better access to the river for kayakers for the past 16 years, was delighted with the new access stairs.
“It is indeed a wonderous thing. It also opens up genuine potential for a whitewater rafting company to operate out of Whakatāne.
“It’s probably the best grade 2 whitewater in the North Island,” Clark said.
“Grade 2 is really ideal for tourist activities. You can get in a thrill without being too dangerous with it. I have done that trip several times back in the day.”
Clark said it was well known to the Eastern Bay’s heartier sportspeople.
“Our local coast-to-coast competitors train on that water. So, my son Sam knows it like the back of his hand.”
Lance Roosendaal from Rafting Adventure takes a family group on the Rangitaiki River using the new staircase from the Aniwhenua Power Station. Photo / Troy Baker
The dam and power station were built by Bay of Plenty Electricity in 1981, during Prime Minister Robert Muldoon’s think big era.
“This was before the Resource Management Act when the consent process for projects like this didn’t need to have any social context to it,” Clark said.
“They didn’t have to think about the issues it would pose for people who used the river or how it would affect the biodiversity of the river.”
The power station was sold to Todd Corporation and Nova Energy in 1998.
Then the Southern Generation Partnership purchased the Aniwhenua hydro station from Nova Energy in 2016, partnering with Pioneer Energy to manage the station and, wearing his regional councillor hat, Clark was able to meet with the new owners and advocate for better access.
“I had some very stern words. You ask anyone who was the grumpiest person at that meeting,” Clark said.
“They said they would go away and think about it, and this is what they have come back with.”
Rowe said the gates 100m from the power station would still be closed when staff left for the day, for safety reasons. But when staff were there, it would remain open.
The company had also installed security fencing around the parking and picnic area by the Aniwaniwa Falls, adjacent to the power station, to make it safer for visitors.
- Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ on Air
