Scout youth hope to remain at farm
The buildings and farm housing New Zealand’s first search and rescue youth training facility and a regional Scout camp have been put up for sale.
The working dairy farm sits at the base of the Kaimai Mountain Range.
On the grassed paddocks are several huts and outbuildings the size of an average four-bedroom house which make up a youth training camp compound.
The buildings include dormitory-style bedrooms with bunk beds, a central classroom, shower and toilet facilities, gaspowered cooking area, and kitchen that can accommodate 30 people at any one time.
They were originally used as men’s huts for engineers of the nearby Kaimai rail tunnel in the 1970s and later transported to the site they are on now, 3596 State highway 29 near Matamata.
The 263 hectare property has a rateable value of $7.45 million.
Youth Search and Rescue took over responsibility for the site in 2009 and since then about 325 high school students have attended training camps there.
The programme covers both search and rescue (SAR) specific skills and general bush safety.
Everything from reading a compass to the psychology of a lost person, to managing a SAR operation.
Future volunteers complete three years of once-a-week training.