Hākarimata gondola plan
‘‘The majority of visitors to Hamilton and Waikato are domestic travellers looking for a unique Waikato experience’’
Perry Group’s Lale Ieremia
An audacious plan has been hatched that would see a gondola rising above the Waikato basin.
Reminiscent of Rotorua and Queenstown, the location for the gondola is Ngāruawāhia and the Hākarimata Scenic Reserve.
More than 300,000 people walk, run and stagger the steps to the Ha¯ karimata summit track each year and it’s now in the sights of the Perry Group – the family company and charitable trust with its name attached to the grandstand at the FMG Stadium Waikato, the Avantidrome and the recently opened Perry Bridge at Horotiu.
‘‘If you can imagine a Rotorua-type concept with the gondola going up and down – you’ve still got the walkers, you’ve got a zip line, potentially, that comes down and converges into a large area which hosts the visitors, then a little township right next door to the gondola, which has all the bars, restaurants or otherwise,’’ said Perry Group’s Lale Ieremia.
At the base of the well-trodden track is the town’s watertreatment plant, residential houses and industrial zone.
‘‘It’s pretty busy and it’s largely domestic visitors and all of them have the same complaint when they come down: Where’s my coffee?’’
Ieremia is the development manager for the Te Awa Lakes project at Horotiu, which would see an adventure water park, homes and commercial hub anchoring tourism in the Waikato.
Between Te Awa Lakes is a 7km stretch of Waikato River and the Te Awa River Ride cycleway, State Highway 1 and the railway line.
Sections along the river have already been identified for development, turning the area into an activity hotspot with a mountain bike park and elevated adventure course thrown in the mix, connected by road, path and river.
Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment figures in February show the vast majority of visitors to Waikato are domestic, with a 2017 expenditure of $1.9 billion.
That outstrips the international visitors spend in the same year of $643 million.
But there is a lack of attractions preventing visitors from staying in the region an extra night. ‘‘The majority of visitors to Hamilton and Waikato are domestic travellers looking for a unique Waikato experience,’’ Ieremia said.
‘‘I don’t think we’ve found that product yet.
‘‘We haven’t been able to crack that mix and we think we’ll be able to find that in the northern quarter.’’
The gondola plan would have to scale regulatory hurdles, said Waikato District Mayor Allan Sanson. Waikato District Council and the Department of Conservation have interests in the mountain range, but he’s glad someone is prepared to give it a crack.
‘‘It was put to me before Christmas and all I said to them was, good luck,’’ Sanson said.
‘‘There’s no doubt it would be a great feature. There is enough Ha¯ karimata there to justify putting a gondola up, but whether you could get the appropriate consents ...’’
The summit track is the second most visited attraction in Waikato behind Hobbiton, he said. It’s packed from dawn till dusk and car parking is scant.
‘‘The number of people using the stairs for fitness or for whatever reason ... there seems to be no shortage of them on a daily basis,’’ Sanson said.
‘‘You go down there about 7.30am and again at 5.30pm and you can’t get a car park for miles. The place is just crawling and I’ve been there during the day when groups of mothers turn up with little kids on their backpacks walking up there.’’
Parekawhia McLean, chairwoman of Waikato-Tainui’s tribal parliament Te Whakakitenga o Waikato, said the iwi supports tourism development in the area.
‘‘In terms of cultural tourism, we’re very, very supportive of projects around the Kīngitanga, showcasing our own heritage as Waikato-Tainui. And it makes sense in that area where you’ve got Rangiriri battlesite up the road, sites of significance for the Waikato-Tainui, Ngāruawāhia and Tūrangawaewae as the home of Kīngitanga,’’ McLean said.
‘‘There is huge potential, but it is yet to be unlocked and realised.’’