By Moana Ellis, Local Democracy Reporting
Two new sections of a major cycle trail are expected to bring more visitors to the Ruapehu district and power the central North Island economy.
Tourism and Hospitality Minister Louise Upston and Conservation Minister Tama Potaka announced $10.8 million funding at the weekend to complete the final 13km section of Te Ara Mangawhero and a new section of Te Hangāruru, including a 99-metre suspension bridge over the Manganui o te Ao River.
The two routes are among the final links needed to finish the Ngā Ara Tūhono Mountains to Sea Great Ride, a 320km journey from the mountains of Ruapehu to the Tasman Sea.
The project is a partnership between the Department of Conservation (DOC), Tourism and the Ngā Ara Tūhono Charitable Trust, which includes iwi agencies Ngā Waihua o Paerangi Trust and Te Korowai o Wainuiārua.
Upston said the investment would be drawn from the International Visitor Levy ($7.7m) and the $70 million Major Events and Tourism (MET) package ($3.1m) as part of a regional resilience strategy.
At Mangamingi Marae between Raetihi and Ohakune on Saturday, she said the MET package had been designed to drive visitor spending, support local businesses and create jobs up and down the country.
“Ready-to-go projects like these cycle trails will bring more visitors to the region, entice them to stay longer, and build confidence in the local economy,” Upston said.
“Adding to the diversity of experiences in the Ruapehu district will develop long-term resilience across our tourism sector. It’s a stunning part of New Zealand and it deserves to be showcased.”
Potaka said completing the trails would strengthen communities and economies while enhancing the environment.
“We are focused on practical partnerships that protect our taiao, celebrate our culture, and strengthen regional economies, ensuring our natural heritage continues to sustain people, place and purpose for generations to come.”
Ngā Waihua o Paerangi (Ngāti Rangi) and Te Korowai o Wainuiārua (representing the iwi Uenuku, Tamakana, Tamahaki) will lead the new works alongside DOC and the Trust.
Ngāti Rangi chair Tomairangi Mareikura said iwi were ecstatic to lead the projects, which represented a significant milestone in reconnecting people to ancestral lands.
“This trail has provided us an opportunity to bring our people back to put their hands and feet on whenua that we have otherwise not had access to or been alienated from for generations,” Mareikura said.
“While it might seem like a small thing – building a trail to bring other people to our rohe – it’s been massive in terms of getting our own people home and connected to place.”
The final section of Te Ara Mangawhero will mark the starting point of Ngā Ara Tūhono Mountains to Sea from just below Tūroa ski area on Mt Ruapehu.
Ngāti Rangi pou ārahi Helen Leahy said the collaboration of iwi, councils and agencies had been crucial.
“Three years ago, on 24 March 2022, Ruapehu District Council and Ngāti Rangi entered into a Heads of Agreement which confirmed that after the cycleway is completed the council will ‘transfer and/or divest itself of ownership of the cycleway and cycleway assets to Ngāti Rangi’,” Leahy said.
“We have been working hard to ensure this commitment to the iwi is achieved, and as such, it was humbling to have the mayors of Ruapehu and Whanganui District Councils and the chair of Horizons Regional Council at the announcement.”
Te Ara Mangawhero had enabled Ngāti Rangi to fulfil its role as “tangata tiaki o te taiao”, with the trail traversing podocarp forest, trout spawning waterways and habitats for rare plant species.
Te Korowai o Wainuiārua chair Aiden Gilbert said he hoped there was a Government plan for ongoing support to uplift the region after a number of difficult years.
“We support the growth here.”
Te Hangāruru connects with the Ohakune Old Coach Road in the south and will extend north to the Last Spike, winding through native forest, wetlands, and over boardwalks and suspension bridges.
Trail champion Lynley Twyman said the aim was for Ngā Ara Tūhono Mountains to Sea to be the “number one Great Ride” in the southern hemisphere.
“We now have the opportunity to build all the way through to the Last Spike including the bridge over the Manganui o te Ao. That’s a huge achievement,” she said.
“I’m looking forward to seeing our tamariki and mokopuna really excited that they can make a future here, and right now they can enjoy the trail as well.”
Sections of the track will open progressively, with completion expected in early 2027. When finished, only the final short link between the Last Spike and Waimarino will remain.
That section is expected to include one of the longest suspension bridges in Aotearoa, stretching 200 metres across the Makatote River near the Makatote rail viaduct.
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