Plan to remove peak’s ‘striking scar’ track
The contentious Craggy Peak track up Te Mata Peak may be filled in but it will be visible for at least another five years, according to a landscape report.
The next stage of restoring the eastern face of the Hawke’s Bay peak is under way with Hastings District Council applying for resource consent from itself to fill in the rest of the track.
The council has already spent $62,000 filling in the top 500 metres of the track, after it was deemed to be unsafe.
Yesterday, it lodged an application to restore the remaining 1335m of track, and has requested that the application be publicly notified and heard by independent commissioners.
The application stated that restoration of the track would have a moderate adverse visual effect due to the use of coconut matting, similar to that used in the restoration of the top 500m late last year.
The matting biodegrades over six months and full grass cover is expected to return after about a year.
The cost of restoring the remainder of the track was estimated at $150,000. It is included in the total $650,000 cost to ratepayers for work associated with restoring the peak.
An excavator will be used to put soil back on the track, with an extra 140 cubic metres of soil needed for the job. A helicopter will also be used.
‘‘The purpose of the proposed activity is to remove the walking track and to return the affected land back to extensive grazing pasture – consistent with the remainder of the site – and as close as possible to its condition prior to establishment of the track,’’ the application said.
The work was expected to take about a month
A landscape and visual effects report filed with the council’s application said ‘‘there will be a period of time [up to five years] where the track alignment will remain visible; however, following integration the alignment will weather and eventually visually merge with its surrounding landform and landcover’’.
‘‘The track and its alignment create a striking scar in the landscape that contrasts and interrupts the natural patterns of the landform . . . The proposed remediation seeks to lessen these effects and reintegrate the affected area into the natural landscape,’’ it said.
A council spokeswoman said a date was yet to be set for public notification of the application.
The track is on private land that was owned by a third party, which had agreed to sell it to Craggy Range winery. The winery cut the track in November 2017, after being granted consent by the council.