Pike River tragedy: memorial walking track wanted

Thursday, 29 January 2015

Families of Pike River Mine victims have asked the Government to create a visitor centre and a walking track on the mine site.

Family representatives and acting Conservation Minister Dr Nick Smith made an announcement today on the future of the site.

The Pike River families' group issued a statement saying they wanted to incorporate the mine site and surrounding area into the Paparoa National Park.

Smith said the Government welcomed the proposal, and it 'makes good sense'.

'This will ensure the site where 29 miners lost their lives is properly respected and that families will always have access to their loved ones' resting place,' he said.

The area had high conservation values and would make a 'welcome addition' to the 30,000-hectare Paparoa National Park, Smith said.

The families' group said existing mine building infrastructure could to be used to create an accommodation and visitor centre for the families and the public.

The visitor centre would showcase the history of the mine disaster and provide a function and training facility.

The families also wanted to see a track, of Great Walk status, connecting the Pike River Mine area on the eastern side of the Paparoa Range to the Punakaiki area on the western side of the range.

Family members said the creation of the track and visitor centre would be 'a positive way of providing an enduring memorial' to the victims, and 'an enduring economic benefit to the local West Coast communities which suffered significantly from the loss of the mine'.

Smith said the 'ambitious' idea would be a 'major undertaking', but he welcomed the proposal.

The two-day, 20-kilometre track would go through the heart of the Paparoa National Park's 'impressive' limestone landscapes and out to the 'internationally renowned' Pancake Rocks at Punakaiki. 

'This would make good use of the tens of millions of dollars that the mining company spent on the highway-class road and facilities,' Smith said.

'The new Great Walk would not only serve as an enduring memorial to the 29 miners, but it would also be an economic asset for the West Coast community which has suffered significantly from the loss of the mine.' 

Smith said he had asked the Department of Conservation (DOC) to carry out a feasibility study on the plan's tourism potential, design challenges, and estimated cost. 

He also planned to discuss the families' proposal to extend the park with the New Zealand Conservation Authority on Tuesday, and with the West Coast Conservation Board, as required by the National Parks Act.

He said he wanted to clarify the area's status before new mine owner Solid Energy returned the site to DOC later this year, to ensure no other company could lodge an application to mine the area.

Further consultation with the Pike River families would be needed, he said.

Bernie Monk, spokesman for some of the families of the victims of the November 2010 disaster, said they 'took a vote on where the families were going'.

'[The families wanted to] let the country know where we are to [go] from here and the proposals that we are putting forward.'

Smith is acting as conservation minister in regard to the Pike River site because new Conservation Minister Maggie Barry is related to Monk.