Info from the Advocates newsletter:
New fishing access
ESTABLISHMENT OF JOCK’S REACH ACCESS
By Gary Brown, whose assistance was integral in helping this initiative happen.
At an Advocates committee meeting earlier this year one of our committee members Virginia Church mentioned the possibility of creating an access track from the Te Awamete road extension to the lower reaches of the Tongariro River.
Over recent years our Advocates committee have had many discussions regarding the possibility of providing better angling access to the lower reaches of the river. Many of our proposals have been thwarted by the difficulty in obtaining access across privately owned land.
Virginia’s suggestion was to provide an access track across land controlled by she & her whanau .
The start of the track would be approximately 40m north of where the Te Awamate road extension (legally a paper road ) crosses Deep Creek— a Tongariro river tributary.
Following discussions with Virginia’s son Douglas it was agreed that the Church family would contract to the Advocates to create the track which involved clearing scrub and forming the track which is approximately one kilometer in length from the road to the river. At the river the track links up with an old riverside track which gives access to the nearest fishing pool which we have named Jock’s Reach in recognition of Virginia’s husband Jock-the Church family Kaumatua.
The track has now been formed & provides a 7—8 minute walk to the river, with a further 7—8 minute walk to the nearest accessible fishing water (Jock’s Reach).
We are currently looking into the possibility of providing further angling access with short tracks from the Riverside track to the river.
We have provided a sign which has now been erected at the track entrance to advise anglers and the public that to access the new track. The track crosses privately owned land courtesy of the Church family and must respect this fact.
Douglas Church has also agreed to provide a metaled car park area at the track entrance which we expect will be in place in the near future.
Some of our committee members have already caught some nice fish at Jock’s Reach, although they do report having to dodge the usual snags prevalent in the lower river pools.
As an organisation, we whole heartedly thank the Church Whanau and the other private landowners for enabling this community minded initiative, Ngā mihi nui ki a koe.
The Advocates for the Tongariro River are a community group made up of people passionate about the river. They aim to speak out for the Tongariro River and its environs and promote ways to look after the river so that it is here for all to enjoy in the years to come.