Last week our Turangi councillor reminded me to apply to the council for the T2T (Turangi to Taupo bike trail) to make sure it was included for 2024. I did wonder about how it all works as we had previously applied in 2018 and 2021. So I emailed the council to ask whether I need to apply again.
Their response left no room for doubt – Erin O’Callaghan Team Leader Resource Management & Reserve Planning replied: “There are no plans to invest in the Bike Trails you refer to in the next Long-term Plan.”
Then I asked if she could reconcile her reply with the 2020 Transport Policy – a 30 year view strategic document, aimed to direct the council to develop proposals for future long term plans – as follows:
“We will support recreational walking and cycling, and the inclusion of Taupō District in the development of regionally and nationally connected networks
We will work with community groups (including Bike Taupō), the Department of Conservation and other landowners to provide and promote a range of recreational walks and bike tracks for locals and visitors alike…….
We will ensure that Taupō district routes and networks are included in the development of regionally and nationally connected networks, providing for a range of skill levels but including inclusive and inviting tracks that attract visitors to the district, including wider parts of the district such as Turangi and Mangakino. Priorities include:
· Creating connections to the national cycling network suitable for visitors and tourists, to form part of backpacking and cycle touring routes:
o from the Waikato River Trails to Taupō
o from Turangi to Taupō
o a connection from Turangi back into national network
· Create a new Great Ride near Turangi, to support Turangi as a cycling destination and part of national backpacking and cycling touring routes.
o potential to link the current Tongariro River Trail through to the Pillars of Hercules, Tree Trunk Gorge Trail, and to the Waihohonu Track
· Connecting the Timber Trail, to the Great Lake Trails, and connecting through to Taupō.
- Creating a track around as much of Lake Taupō as possible, with good connections between sections.“
So I hope readers will understand our inmates’ frustration. But it gets worse! She replied apologising for her negativity (?) and went on to suggest any application needs to come from a “community-led organisation”. This has been our constant struggle for previous applications. In Turangi, we do not have a bike club as such. Turangi is a cute little tourist town where about a third of the housing stock is owned by tourist visitors. Some rent them out when they are not using them. I have tried to explain in the past that this is the group that we represent. We call them “TRM inmates”. We inherited some when we bought the motel in 2004. That shows how long they have been regularly visiting here and take a lot of interest in facilities such as bike trails.
A good example could be the local fishing club TALTAC (Tongariro and Lake Taupo Anglers Club). Most of their members do not live here either but similarly, they take a close interest in all local matters that affect them – like the deterioration of anglers’ access aka bike trails.
We tried to explain this to the council with our last application and picked one inmate as an example. His name is Murray and he has been a regular TRM inmate since 1998. We even included photos of Murray biking the trails in our last application. He is back again on the 23rd of April for his ‘fix’ He is typical of about a thousand others who have invested in Turangi for all their recreational pursuits for over 25 years. They keep this town alive. Their voices deserve to be heard.
i.e. Following from 2022 submission:
TRM (Tongariro River Motel) tries to represent the views of our “inmates” and other anglers who have been regularly visiting and staying in Turangi for many years. i.e. At the time of preparing this, Murray Cullen was staying for four weeks fishing. We inherited him with the motel acquisition in 2003. He has been a regular visitor to TRM, his second home, since 1998! Accordingly, even though he does not live here, he takes a close interest in Turangi as his chosen holiday destination many times over the last 25 years. Like many others, he is dismayed at the erosion of the river access and the steady deterioration of Turangi generally. TRM has many other similar tourist anglers who have made a considerable investment in Turangi over many years and deserve to be listened to, even though they do not live here permanently. Murray is a typical TRM “inmate”, one of many who have encouraged TRM to make submissions on their behalf. During “happy hour” many of these matters are vigorously discussed, particularly on how Turangi’s future prospects need to be improved to enhance it as a “tourist destination”. These regular long-term tourist anglers have the advantage of visiting and comparing many other similar small tourist towns all over the world so we listen to them carefully. They comment from real experience on how and why some are successful and can identify the reasons some others, like Turangi, are struggling.
TRM represents a large number of other “Murrays” in our application. We used to communicate with them all directly but now the worldwide net has developed into Facebook which is a more convenient method. But as you see from the council’s negative response, they don’t count. Yet that tourist group are responsible for the continued economic health of a small tourist town like Turangi. They are the “community group” that spend their money locally to go fishing, that use the bike trails, that eat out in town, that stay in the tourist-type accommodation provided like their own bach or house or at TRM.
i.e. How else could Turangi – population under 3000 – support two tackle shops, the same as Toe-Paw – population about 25,000?
So by posting this on fb, to communicate with our inmates, we trust the council bozos might understand that just because most of our group in favour of bike trail does not live here they still need to be considered with any long-term planning of tourist facilities. Strangely, after about 12 years of applying to council, asking for their support, they still do not understand.
(That may be why they get keep being described as bozos by our inmates? I am not sure what they are so I looked it up in my REED Dictionary [Third Revised Edition 1979] but, fortunately?, it was not listed).
Below are abbreviated previous applications to the council’s long-term plan to illustrate our frustration.
These were sent to our Turangi Councillor :
Thank you for your encouragement to make a submission on the Taupo long term plan. We need help!
This is to acquaint you with some of the previous submissions and blogs to TDC to indicate the lack of progress to date. (Make a pot of tea first) To my mind it is almost pointless preparing another submission after all the previous efforts were disregarded. My apologies if some of the following info sent to TDC is repetitive… I am tempted to send them all the previous submissions but nobody would read them all…
You may not appreciate that we – “TRM” – have been making similar submissions on the same bike trails for so many years.
The photo below says it all – Louise Upston standing on the Pillars of Hercules bridge when inspecting the proposed loop route as Stage 2 to extend the Tongariro River Trail in December 2007. OK!
At that time the submissions were made to the previous council – Mayor Rick Cooper – through the Advocates for the Tongariro River.
This is not a new proposal. Turangi have been promoting this trail for the last fifteen years with support from Taupo MP Louise Upston and previous Mayor, Rick Cooper.
i.e. It was subject of a feature article in the January 2010 issue of Wilderness Magazine.
A video prepared in 2011 featured the MP and Mayor supporting the proposal.
The Turangi Chronicle dated April 29 2010 front page featured it.
Taupo Times, 12 February 2016 heading was “Taupo to Turangi bike trail reaches stage two” (?) etc.
Meanwhile over the same time frame other trails – i.e. Waihaha etc. had been conceived and completed… It is time the construction of this biking/walking trail to link Turangi with Taupo commenced…
Above is a team of keen optimistic bikers leaving on the 2006 Great NZ Trek – biking from Cape Reinga to Bluff in 14 stages – they arrived in 2019.
April 16, 2018 (Submission for TDC Long-term plan)
Every year thousands of “bikepacking” tourists bike from Cape Reinga to Bluff following existing bike trails, but Taupo (and Turangi!) misses out.
As such, you may not be surprised that TRM pitched for the new bikepacking route to head south around the eastern side of Lake Taupo (aka T2T) to link with Turangi and then extend further south. This would link with existing DOC (Department of Conservation) managed tracks such as the famous Tongariro River Trail and continue south to link with the Pillars of Hercules to Tree Trunk Gorge.
We were surprised and delighted that this was followed up in 2020 by a request from the Taupo Policy Advisor for TRM to expand and firm up on potential links. This was the best response from Taupo Council in the previous ten years of trying to get them to focus more on the T2T and south beyond Turangi.
Taupo should learn so much from these other successful tourist trails. Comparatively, the fact is that Taupo’s bike trails have failed to link up with tourist trails from other regions. To attract biking tourists, the Council needs to plan beyond Taupo to link with the Waikato River Trail and Rotorua trails to the north and beyond the Tongariro River Trail to the south – to link with other DOC managed tracks (such as the Tree Trunk Gorge to Pillars of Hercules tracks). Taupo Council needs to realise how important these tourist trails are to provide local employment opportunities… i.e. The Otago Rail Trail has created over 200 jobs. Taupo claims to have many bike trails but they were mainly designed for bike club members. The locations in Waihaha and Kinloch are far too remote from tourist accommodation in Taupo, and the tracks are too physical and technical and unsuitable for tourist e-bikers. They are missing a great opportunity to encourage more sustainable tourism growth.
To keep everyone in Turangi more confused, in 2018 TDC listed the T2T in their strategic plan so it appeared it was still being considered after all. The Mayor, David Trewavas, commented: “It is hoped the proposed Turangi-to-Taupō cycle trail could join the list of New Zealand’s Great Walks, Trewavas said. “It would be like the Otago Rail Trail. For all those areas down south [of Taupō], this would be a huge game-changer. However, the cycle route could not go via the narrow, winding roads at Bulli Point, he said. The trail would need to go inland, like the existing stretch of SH1 between Waitahanui and Hatepe. “There is a long-term plan to divert [SH1] from Bulli Point, but it’s quite a fair way out,” Trewavas said. “We’re advocating that the government bring that forward.” Agreements with the owners of the land the trail would pass through, which is currently forestry, would also need to be reached, he said. “It’s predominantly Maori-owned land.” (Another more recent truck crash last week on Bulli Point should have added more urgency)
OK That is enough for one day. Considering the Council’s 30 year view strategic document in 2020, you will understand the frustration of TRM’s inmates when Council replied this week that “There are no plans to invest in the Bike Trails you refer to in the next Long-term Plan.” ??? And then no doubt we will be criticised again when our inmates couldn’t restrain themselves and refer to them as Bozos!