John Coull hut history: DoC replies

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 10, Issue 466, 15 December 1992, Page 4

John Coull hut history: DoC replies

• I refer to an article in your 1 December issue entitled "Puketapu dispute' - the iwi's story" by Tamaupoko Korero. This is indeed a longstanding issue. It is difficult to know where to begin to respond to the article. The literary licence used is indeed wide. So let's start at the beginning. The John Coull hut was built in 1981. During the construction no prior disturbance of the soil beneath the hut was

detected according to builder Norm Hubbard, a person knowledgeable of historic places. There is no record on file of any protest from 1981 to 1989. To say DoC failed to act in this period is very wide of the mark as DoC was only established in mid 1987. It is of course true that after negotiations with kaumatua it was agreed by DoC to move the John Coull Hut to a new site. Discussions also took place on site concerning whether signs should be

put up asking visitors to respect the former hut site and urupa area. Eventually the iwi with the co-operation of the Department placed a sign advising of the presence of the urupa and that camping was not appropriate. Kaumatua Gray andCribb were asked about retaining some toilets to prevent visitors unknowingly desecrating the urupa. They agreed

that this made sense provided they were located well down the hill from the urupa. Archie Taiaroa, Chairman of the Whanganui River Maori Trust Board was also present at these discussions. The old toilets were removed and new ones built well down the hill as agreed. These toilets are not close to or on traditional burial sites. The Department has

ever since sought advice on how to manage the inevitable large number of campers who continue to use the area. We do not promote camping but seek to minimise impacts. The vandalism that accrued to the toilets in late 1991 was not resolved as described in the article. The Department approached the Whanganui River Maori Trust Board about the action taken. The Trust Board agreed it was not appropriate and compensated the Department for the cost of restoring the toilets. It was also agreed by both parties that further advice on the future of the area for camping and public use was urgent. The Department is still seeking advice on this matter and is meeting soon with the Trust Board and other iwi leaders to hopefully find a practical solution that satisfies all the problems. Incidentally it was a conservation corp project that built the new toilets, young people working to protect nature and cultural values and they only completed the project the day before the vandalism. The information presented concerning the ownership of the Puketapu area is as distorted as the rest of the

article. An area of approximately a quarter of a hectare at Puketapu remains Maori land. This has always been so and no one ever disputed it. It is however not at or beside the former site of the John Coull Hut but some distance away. The Department after a request from the Minister of Justice offered to fence the area off, if this was the wish of the iwi, so the public would not irtadvertently misuse the area. It is not normally our role to spend resources on other than conservation lands but we wished to help if we could. No response has yet been received to our offer. Thus no one needed to concede the area was Maori land it has been shown to be so on all cadastral maps for decades. The remaining area at Puketapu is National Park and research records show that no other urupa were noted at the time of sale. The Department's agreement to move the hut was therefore solely in recognition of the wishes of the responsible kaumatua and at considerable public expense. Blessings were offered to the new site and old site and it seemed good faith, common respect and discussions had resolved the

problems. Latter day actions and wild claims have been singularly unhelpful. The Department will be meeting very soon with responsible leaders of the Trust Board and the Whare Wananga Trust to discuss progress with appropriate management at Puketapu. Let's hope further misinformation and misguided actions do not cause unnecessary efforts that are better used improving the situation for iwi and the public alike. That is our overriding desire.

Bill Carlin Regional Conservator Wanganui