Group wants bridge across Whanganui

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 10, Issue 454, 22 September 1992, Page 1

Group wants bridge across Whanganui

An east-west crossing of the Whanganui National Park, possibly via a swing bridge across the Whanganui River linking the Mangapurua and Matemateonga tracks, would be "a great asset". That was one of the suggestions in the submission on the Wanganui Conservation Management Strategy prepared by a group of

Ruapehu District councillors and Waimarino Community Board members which was endorsed by the full council last week. Possum control should be a priority and the Department of Conservation should be working on buffer zones of at least one kilometre with lands bordering on farmland in TB endemic areas. "That is, they

should adopt a 'good neighbour policy'." Other suggestions made were: • Access for hunters into the park should be improved and maintained, bikes and pack horses should have access and hunters' huts in some areas should be permitted. • Camping facilities on the Whanganui River should be improved to

cater for larger numbers of people, rather than restricting numbers on the river. • Sensible, limited commercial use of conservation land should be allowed. Grazing some buffer zones should be allowed, eg in Mangapurua Valley grazing would control weed growth which would improve access and enjoyment. Without such grazing

several weeds will become serious problems. • More education about conservation is needed, especially through practical experience. • DoC should promote recreational hunting as an important part of pest control. As recreational users of conservation land, hunters should have equal status with other users such as trampers and canoeists. • Visitor information in areas such as Pipiriki and Mangapurua needs to be improved. • Older people should be catered for by ensuring ready access, and providing better toilet and washing facilities. • Historic site conservation should be high priority. • If DoC had a more "reasonable" attitude they would gain the cooperation of neighbouring landowners. Costs such as fencing should be shared and that land exchange could be carried out. "As a general comment we would like to express our concem at the general public's image of DoC (sic). We believe that it would be vastly improved if Conservation Boards had a wider representation, eg tourist operator, farmer and local authority representation. We believe they would then give a more balanced view," concluded the submission.