West Coast scenic rail proposed
A new scenic West Coast rail service could help the region attract
1.1 million tourists by 2021.
The Government has set aside
$625,000 to investigate starting a passenger rail service between Hokitika and Westport, improving the ports of both towns, and producing a masterplan for Greymouth in between. The projects were aimed at boosting the region’s economy, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones said yesterday.
The feasibility studies would be funded from the Provincial Growth Fund. Jones said he would be making more funding announcements for the West Coast in the future: the Coast should see this round of funding as an ‘‘appetiser’’.
The existing Christchurch-toGreymouth TranzAlpine scenic trip is worth $25 million in tourism spending annually to the West Coast economy.
KiwiRail chief executive Peter Reidy said the new route would complement the TranzAlpine, which was often over-subscribed.
Potential packages and itineraries would be tested, and there would be talks with local tourism operators, as part of the feasibility study, he said.
The proposal is to run a daily two-way passenger service on the route, which already has a freight service, and add a new station at Hokitika and a maintenance facility in Greymouth.
Buller mayor Garry Howard said he was very excited by the proposal which he believed would boost visitor numbers to Buller.
Westport’s port needed upgrading to ensure the viability of the fishing industry, he said.
The entrances to the Westport and Greymouth ports are made perilous by often rough sand bars.
Earlier this month fishing boats were stuck out at sea because silting prevented them entering Greymouth’s port.
The Buller and Grey district councils’ chief executives were working together on a feasibility study for both ports, a spokeswoman said. The councils were sharing resources, and key port staff at both organisations would have input, she said.
The West Coast grants allow
$125,000 each for business cases at the ports, $250,000 for the rail trip study, $125,000 for the Greymouth masterplan to rejuvenate the town, and $30,000 for work on a masterplan for Punakaiki township. A spokesman for Jones said the new passenger service could help West Coast tourism reach its goal of 1.1 million visitors a year by
2021.
West Coast-based National Party list MP Maureen Pugh said it was time for the Government to ‘‘step up and deliver’’ on the work signed off in the West Coast Economic Development Action Plan last year. West Coasters remained concerned by Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage’s stated desire to ban access to public conservation land, which accounted for about 84 per cent of the West Coast, Pugh said.
‘‘Opening up low value conservation land and streamlining permits is necessary to make sustainable economic activity possible, and provide growing employment on the West Coast,’’ she said.
Jones announced in February he would be giving $1 million towards the construction of two cycleways on the West Coast – the West Coast wilderness trail and the Old Ghost Rd trail.
Also offered, and and later put on hold, was a $350,000 grant for a waste-to-energy plant in the Buller District.
A thanks and a future
Stephen Rose says there were ‘‘times when we had nothing left in us, and the people of New Zealand would step forward and embrace us and support us’’ after his stepson Stuart Mudge was killed in the mining tragedy. He sees the Paparoa Track as a way for the Pike River families to say thank you for that help.
‘‘The whole basis of the track was born from the families’ desire to thank the West Coast community and the people of New Zealand for the support that they gave us when we needed it most.’’
Stephen Rose and his wife Carol Rose have been involved in the track since its inception, two of 10 family members who have thrown themselves into the project. The idea was raised in late 2014 after a meeting at the Ashley Hotel when Solid Energy, which bought the mine after the explosion, told the families they were calling off efforts to re-enter the mine.
He says there was great trepidation when it was suggested mountain bikes could use the track, with concerns of conflict with walkers. ‘‘But the way I saw it, it was the track of the future not the track of the past’’.
There were fears Solid Energy would seal the mine and rip up the roads and bridges leading to it, so putting a track in was seen as a way of keeping that access open – for the public and for any future reentry efforts.
‘‘We felt it was important that public access to the portal was maintained, because until you stand at the portal and look in, that’s when the whole immensity of the whole thing really hits you – when you’re looking at a tunnel that’s two-and-a-half kilometres long, and to think that the mine’s rescue guys were prepared to walk into that gun barrel.’’
Standing at the portal, there’s a real presence and beauty, Stephen Rose says.
‘‘Some people really hate the portal. Some of the families, they see it as a hell-hole, but when you take your eyes away and and look at the hills, the mountains, the rivers and the bush around you, it’s just the most beautiful place.’’
He’s pleased the mine’s buildings will be turned into an interpretation centre, to tell the story of the disaster, but would like to see part of the complex used as accommodation and maybe a cafe.
Carol Rose says the families see the mine site and the new track as intrinsically linked. She says most are on board, especially those living on the coast, but believes there is less of a sense of ‘‘ownership’’ for those living further afield.
The couple have been up to see how the track building work is progressing and are impressed with how the work is being done and what’s being produced.
‘‘It’s being constructed with enormous respect for how it came about, and for those 29 men,’’ Carol feels.
As well as a thank you, the track is seen as a new hope for the region which has struggled economically due to the generally downturn in mining. Carol says Greymouth and the region need as much draw as they can get, and she sees the track as an ‘‘ace in the hole’’.
Benefits for the Coast
First to reap the economic benefits from the track are Blackball and Punakaiki.
The two villages, at either end of the trail, are very different – Punakaiki groans under the weight of visitors to the Pancake Rocks, which pulls in about 450,000 tourists a year, while sleepy Blackball has suffered as the mining industry winds down.
In December the Government pledged $600,000 to Blackball for toilets, car parks and other infrastructure to prepare for the Paparoa Track’s opening, but its 300-odd residents may still be in for a shock when the trail opens.
Currently there is a workingman’s club, a hotel and backpacker’s, a shop and the famous Blackball Salami Company deli on the main street – hardly the infrastructure needed to deal with an influx of hikers and bikers.
On the main street, Wayne Saunders enjoys a tea on his front porch in the early evening. He thinks the track will bring money to the town. ‘‘It needs something to keep going.’’
The Blackball Hilton is a West Coast institution, now over 100 years old. Co-owner Cynthia Roberts thinks the track will be marvellous for Blackball.
‘‘There’s going to be changes in Blackball and I think people are coming to accept that.’’
It’s already started. Residents are looking into setting up Airbnbs, bike mechanics, shuttle services, provisions stores and equipment rental.
The village is also in a good position to add overnight visitors on day trips from the Pike29 trail to Blackball, the 35km distance very achievable for mountain bikers.
Punakaiki is also set to benefit from day trippers, more likely from walkers, but the discussion there is around whether they can handle the extra numbers during peak season – and whether they want them.
The tiny town of fewer than 100 residents is at capacity during the summer season, with no real room to expand as its wedged between the ocean and the mountains.
Neil Mouat is enthusiastic about the new walk but believes Punakaiki needs to have a discussion on its future; is it a remote location to enjoy before visitors go elsewhere for services like accommodation?
That discussion needs to happen soon, as the Government announced $100,000 towards a Punakaiki master plan in February to improve infrastructure and prepare for higher visitor numbers.
Mouat says visitor numbers at the pancake rocks degrade the experience. If people were to stay longer, the extra vehicles would be a problem, even with the planned toilets and carpark expansion. ‘‘You can’t manage that away’’, he says.
Mouat, who co-owns The Hydrangea Cottages and Punakaiki Horse Treks, sees it as a thorny problem and one which the community needs to resolve.
He says its tourism is seasonal. ‘‘For six months of the year, trading here, you make no money.’’
Patrick Volk, who owns three local businesses including the Pancake Rocks Cafe, is hopeful the Paparoa Track will be a boost for the village, especially in the shoulder seasons when visitor numbers drop off.
‘‘I think it’s one of the best things that could have happened to the area, because it puts the West Coast – and in particular Punakaiki, Blackball and Greymouth – on the map.’’
The next Old Ghost Road?
While there are concerns, you don’t have to look far to see the type of benefit Paparoa Track might bring.
About 70km to the north, the Old Ghost Road track has many similarities to the Paparoa Track.
Both cover long distances through some of New Zealand’s most remote and beautiful back country, and both are open to bikes and walkers, though the Paparoa Track is closer to Christchurch and is an easier ride.
Since it opened in December 2015, the 85km Old Ghost Road has spurred a new industry in the struggling Buller district.
More than 11,000 people used it in 2017, and this year is tracking at a similar level, according to the Mokihinui-Lyell Backcountry Trust. Nearly 90 per cent were Kiwis, mostly mountain bikers.
Chairman Phil Rossiter said the trail’s economic impact has been ‘‘significant’’ on the small surrounding community, bringing in about $3m annually.
Rossiter says new enterprises have set up, marginal or seasonal businesses have been revived and about two dozen businesses maintain a formal working partnership with the trail, providing support services and products.
Rachel Townrow has also noticed more bikes on the back of cars in Westport since the Old Ghost Road opened. The resulting new businesses have been a boon for restaurants and cafes which feed hungry walkers and bikers.
The Buller District Council community and environment group manager says the trail has galvanised the local community.
She sees the Old Ghost Road and Paparoa Track as complementary, a view shared by West Coast Tourism chief executive Jim Little.
He says tourism was never taken seriously on the West Coast until the demise of mining, but people have suddenly realised it’s a growing and sustainable industry.