Visitor centre for Pipiriki planned

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 13, Issue 623, 13 February 1996, Page 1

Visitor centre for Pipiriki planned

Pipiriki will have a new visitor information centre, provided a tripartite agreement between the Ruapehu District Council, Department of Conservation and Pipiriki Incorporated is ratified.

Ruapehu District property officer Allan Low told the board at their February meeting that a riew information centre at Pipiriki would see the Ruapehu District capitalise on the increased

numbers of visitors to the Whanganui National Park expected in the next few years. Before the board was a proposal to build a $120,000 information centre in the tiny river settlement. "But unless the proposal is ratified by all three parties, it's a non-startef," said Mr Low. The council and the Department of Conservation will put up equal shares, along with "a significant contribution" from Pipiriki Incorporated. The board recommended to council to make provision for council funds for the project, subject to the tripartite agreement being ratified. Marketing manager Bruce Rollinson told the board funding could also be sought from other

sources including the lotteries commission and the tourism board. To be incorporated in the building would be a $30,000 public toilet block, for which $20,000 of council funding is already allocated as part of the 1995/96 annual plan. The council' capital contribution to the information centre and the extra $10,000 for the toilets would come from the council's sale of property account "reflecting the importance placed on the district' s southem gateway to the Whanganui National Park". Operating costs for the visitor centre would be $18,250 per year, funded equally by DoC and the RDC.