The 42 Traverse gets its agreement

The Department of Conservation ( DoC) and the Friends of 42 Traverse Inc. finally have an agreement in place for the Tongariro Forest “to assist the Department to maintain the 42 Traverse route and such other vehicle routes that are permitted, to ensure their sustainability as venues for vehicle based recreation users into the future”.

This five year Community Agreement ( pursuant to section 53( 2)( i) Conservation Act 1987) complements a three year MOU between the organisations that was due to expire on 16 August 2019.

While the agreement itself is now in place, it is but the start of the paperwork behind the process of collaborating with DoC to assist with the maintenance of the 42 Traverse. The next steps are to create an agreed work plan that is supported by a comprehensive Health and Safety document.

The intention is to have those documents agreed before the 2018 cutback of the 42 Traverse by volunteers, being held over the weekend of 17 / 18 November.

The chairman of Friends of 42 Traverse Inc., Peter Vahry stated “This agreement will now also allow fundraising to engage local contractors with experience in track maintenance and encourage more users and user groups to come together to ensure we can all enjoy this great route through the Tongariro Forest into the future.”