Conservation Minister Tama Påtaka announced:
Conservation Minister Tama Potaka has made the reinstatement of the walking access to Coromandels Cathedral Cove/Te Whanganui-a-Hei before next summer a priority.
Excellent. Prior to the Minister being involved, DOC were saying they wouldn’t even make a decision on restoring access until the end of 2024. Now a few weeks later, the Minister has obviously told them this is unacceptable, and it will be reopened.
This is just one of many benefits of a change of Government. The former Minister just let DOC spend 12 months deciding to do nothing.
“I expect to receive advice from officials by the end of June on the reinstatement options. Assuming there is a safe option for public walking access, I want to see the mahi procured and underway ahead of summer.
Of course there are safe options. Safe is not the same as risk free. If one allows any potential of risk to dictate access, then we would have no walking tracks anywhere!
So the battle isn’t won. Having the Minister make access a priority helps immensely, but the power of bureaucratic inertia should not be underestimated!
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