Concern over plan for road through Kahurangi National Park
Fish & Game is concerned over a proposal to put a road through the South Island’s remote Kahurangi National Park, saying it will jeopardise a pristine environment and an existing major tourist attraction.
The Buller District Council has just voted unanimously to get government support to investigate building a road linking the top of the West Coast region with Nelson. The council is proposing that the road would run 56km through the middle of the Kahurangi National Park from Little Wanganui to Wangapeka.
The Council’s Mayor Garry Howard believes the road would create closer links between Westport and Nelson and Karamea, boosting tourism and jobs.
But Fish & Game is calling on the council and mayor to think more laterally about meeting the very difficult economic challenge posed by the recent coal mine closure on the West Coast.
“Building a road through rugged mountain ranges and pristine native forest will jeopardise the existing environment and its associated remote experience that is already attracting many overseas and New Zealand visitors,” says Fish & Game’s Nelson-Marlborough Regional Manager Rhys Barrier.
“The bush and rivers that lie within the path of the proposed road are pristine which is why they are currently protected by a national park for the benefit of future generations.
“Kahurangi is one of New Zealand’s largest national parks and its isolation is part of the charm which currently draws New Zealanders and foreign tourists here to enjoy this wilderness.
“This will be fundamentally altered forever with any new road development.”
Rhys Barrier hopes these issues will be properly considered as part of any feasibility study into the project but doubts the road’s potential economic benefits will outweigh the enormous technical, legal, financial, and environmental hurdles it faces.
People from around the world come to fish the Karamea and Wangapeka rivers every year, bringing tourist dollars to Nelson and the West Coast. These river systems are internationally acclaimed by anglers for their stunning brown trout fisheries set in a magnificent landscape.
Fish & Game is also concerned that building the road will have a negative impact on the environment.
“Constructing a road through such an earthquake prone high rainfall area will result in greater sediment runoff, damaging the rivers and their fisheries and leaving the road and surrounding areas more vulnerable to slips,” says Mr Barrier.
Fish & Game’s West Coast Regional Manager Dean Kelly agrees the Karamea River is an internationally significant trout fishery that is prized for the remote backcountry fishing experience it offers.
Mr Kelly says surveys of international anglers show they value places like Kahurangi because they are becoming increasingly rare in today’s world.
“Any road proposal will need to take this into account and as such West Coast Fish & Game supports the approach of Buller District Council to assess the environmental issues. These issues may not be insurmountable but at this stage the Council will have to be aware that encroaching on Kahurangi’s remoteness risks “killing the golden goose for the sake of a few eggs’.”
Categories
Archive
- September 2023
- August 2023
- July 2023
- June 2023
- May 2023
- April 2023
- March 2023
- February 2023
- January 2023
- December 2022
- November 2022
- October 2022
- September 2022
- August 2022
- July 2022
- June 2022
- May 2022
- April 2022
- March 2022
- February 2022
- January 2022
- December 2021
- November 2021
- October 2021
- September 2021
- August 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- May 2021
- April 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
- January 2021
- December 2020
- November 2020
- October 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- October 2019
- September 2019
- July 2019
- June 2019
- May 2019
- April 2019
- March 2019
- February 2019
- January 2019
- December 2018
- November 2018
- October 2018
- September 2018
- August 2018
- July 2018
- June 2018
- May 2018
- April 2018
- March 2018
- February 2018
- January 2018
- December 2017
- November 2017
- October 2017
- September 2017
- August 2017
- July 2017
- June 2017
- May 2017
- April 2017
- March 2017
- February 2017
- January 2017
- December 2016
- November 2016
- October 2016
- September 2016
- August 2016
- July 2016
- June 2016
- May 2016
- April 2016
- March 2016
- February 2016
- January 2016
- December 2015
- November 2015
- October 2015
- September 2015
- August 2015
- July 2015
- June 2015
- May 2015
- April 2015
- March 2015
- February 2015
- December 2013
- March 2013
- September 2012
- July 2012