as Tūhoe plan 'bespoke' replacements
A plan by Tūhoe to remove dozens of back country huts over summer has upset some users of the former National Park who believe it will mean back-country heritage will be lost.
But the Department of Conservation (DOC), which owns the huts, has no objections.
Te Uru Taumatua (TUT), the iwi’s operations arm which has managed Te Urewera since Tūhoe’s Treaty Settlement in 2014, confirmed in a statement to Stuff that 48 back-country huts which were either near or past their end-of-life were being decommissioned.
Most were rarely used and not in areas often visited, TUT said. The options were to continue the costly maintenance of substandard facilities, abandonment, which was not realistic for health and safety reasons, or replacement.
Link to video and article: Dozens of huts to be removed from Te Urewera as Tūhoe plan 'bespoke' replacements | Stuff.co.nz
