\u201cWalkers are being funnelled into conditions that can involve deep water, strong currents and limited escape routes. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis creates a foreseeable drowning risk … I am deeply concerned that the current configuration materially increases the likelihood of serious injury or loss of life.\u201d <\/p>\n
Julian Batchelor, who owns 3.5ha in the area including Oke Bay Lodge and the first few hundred metres of track, posted a video on YouTube showing three New Zealand trampers recently struggling in thigh-deep water on the new route. <\/p>\n
The video shows Batchelor guiding the trampers back to safety. <\/p>\n
Once on land, one tramper said she thought she would drown, and her friends agreed the route was \u201cpretty gnarly and dangerous\u201d. They were all confused about the directions. <\/p>\n
Batchelor told the Northern Advocate he went to help them as he \u201cheard shouting\u201d. <\/p>\n
The new route is longer and dangerous, he said, and there were thousands of New Zealanders and international visitors who walked the track each year. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s absolute insanity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Batchelor claimed for half of the days in each month, the track cannot be safely used during the two\u2011hour window around high tide.<\/p>\n
\u201cImagine how pissed off people will be if they arrive here and they can\u2019t walk it because the tide is too high.\u201d <\/p>\n
A warning about the new route was published on the DoC website on December 15, saying the old route crossed private land which is no longer permitted. <\/p>\n
The 16.3km track, which takes about eight hours to traverse, has been a co-operative venture between the Te R\u0101whiti 3B2 Ahu Whenua Trust and DoC since 2001. <\/p>\n
Changes have been made to the start of the Cape Brett track, meaning trampers now have to navigate tides to walk along Oke Bay.<\/p>\n
Six kilometres of the track is on public conservation land and 10km passes over private land owned largely by the trust, which is run and maintained by the trust\u2019s agent, Cape Brett Walkways.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are responsible for track route decisions on their land,\u201d DoC regional director of operations Phelan Pirrie said.<\/p>\n
Pirrie said DoC collects a $50 fee from people to walk over the private land. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe take a commission of 15% for running the website and booking system, and the balance is paid to Cape Brett Walkways.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat they do with the money after that is between them and any other landowner.\u201d <\/p>\n
There is a separate booking system for the Cape Brett hut, which is on public conservation land. <\/p>\n
Batchelor, who fronts the group Stop Co-Governance, said Cape Brett Walkways paid him $3 per person for walking over his section of land. <\/p>\n
Julian Batchelor at a Stop Co-Governance meeting in Kerikeri in 2023. Photo \/ NZME<\/p>\n
He said they stopped payments. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey said they were changing the direction of the track and didn\u2019t give any reason.\u201d <\/p>\n
Batchelor claims the change was political because of his views that \u201cco-governance is not in the Treaty and I have been outspoken about that\u201d. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe track should not be political; it shouldn\u2019t be weaponised. It\u2019s a public walking track.\u201d <\/p>\n
Cape Brett Walkways owner Peter Stuart said the route was changed so it wasn\u2019t going over private land. <\/p>\n
As for Batchelor\u2019s claims it was because of his association with Stop Co-Governance, Stuart said \u201cno comment\u201d. <\/p>\n
Stuart didn\u2019t think the track was dangerous. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf people read all the online information about the track, it is classed as an advanced tramping track. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not walking the H\u0101tea Loop here. <\/p>\n
\u201cOnce they dive into the classification of the track they\u2019ll have a better understanding.\u201d <\/p>\n
Pirrie reiterated that the Cape Brett Track has always been classed as an advanced tramping track that requires a high level of fitness. <\/p>\n
\u201cUpon being notified of the changes to the track, the department took immediate steps to warn the public on its website of the safety issues related to the new route.\u201d <\/p>\n
Pirrie said because it is private land, public consultation was not required. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe section of track in question is not administered by DoC. <\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, the department is improving the track on the 6km it administers. <\/p>\n
\u201cConstruction work to upgrade the Oke Bay staircase will take place in May 2026.\u201d <\/p>\n
A petition on Change.org calling on DoC to reinstate the original track has so far gained more than 400 signatures. <\/p>\n
Pirrie said, \u201cthat is a decision for the trust and its agent\u201d. <\/p>\n
Jenny Ling is a senior journalist at the Northern Advocate. She has a special interest in covering human interest stories, along with finance, roading, and social issues. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cWalkers are being funnelled into conditions that can involve deep water, strong currents and limited escape routes. \u201cThis…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":239158,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[74,4911,1558,30808,13651,12974,10709,73,9944,17309,305,14046,3025,111,43,139,24926,69,10903,2081,1519,63502,23419,8207,22974,65860,28561],"class_list":["post-239157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-after","tag-alternative","tag-been","tag-brett","tag-cape","tag-change","tag-concerns","tag-diverted","tag-drowning","tag-exposed","tag-have","tag-hurt","tag-most","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-northlands","tag-nz","tag-popular","tag-raised","tag-risks","tag-route","tag-seriously","tag-sparks","tag-track","tag-trampers","tag-walks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239157","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=239157"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239157\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/239158"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=239157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=239157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=239157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}