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Pike29 Memorial Track

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Pike29 Memorial Track
Track construction in June 2018
Length11.6 km (7.2 mi)
LocationPaparoa National Park, New Zealand
EstablishedFebruary 2024
DesignationGreat Walk (as part of the Paparoa Track)
TrailheadsMoonlight Tops, Pike River Mine
UseTramping, Trail running
Surfacedirt, rock
WebsiteDepartment of Conservation

The Pike29 Memorial Track is a hiking track located near the Paparoa National Park in the Grey District of the South Island of New Zealand.[1] The track was created as a memorial for the 29 miners who lost lives in the Pike River Mine disaster. The track is a branch of the Paparoa Track, the tenth Great Walk created. Both tracks were originally scheduled to open in 2018. The Pike29 Memorial Track opened in February 2024, four years after the Paparoa Track. The Pike River Mine portal features a memorial and interpretation centre.

Track history

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Acting Conservation Minister, Nick Smith, announces track construction contractors on 19 July 2017 in Blackball[a]

In November 2010, a methane explosion at the Pike River Mine killed 29 men and entombed them. Family members of the men then worked with government and asked for a visitor centre to be built, and a new track built to Great Walks standard be constructed that linked the Pike River Mine site on the eastern side of the Paparoa Range with Punakaiki on the West Coast. This was to serve as a memorial but also as a source of income from tourism, compensating for the loss of income to the region of the mine. In his role as acting[b] Conservation Minister, Nick Smith and family representatives announced on 29 January 2015 that the track would be built and that the land around the mine would be added to the existing Paparoa National Park. The Department of Conservation had been tasked with a feasibility study and prior to that work having been completed, it was estimated that a 20 km (12 mi) track would be built.[4] Some families regard the area as sacred and maintain that people should not cycle or walk across the mine site; they were opposed to the track construction.[6][7] Smith confirmed the track on 15 November 2015, confirmed that it would go from Blackball to Punakaiki, and that 45 km (28 mi) of new track would be built. It would connect existing tracks—the Croesus Track and the Pororari River Track—and a side track would be built to the Pike River Mine site. At the mine, a visitor centre and a memorial were to be built. It was confirmed that the main track could also be used for year-round mountain biking, which is unusual for National Parks[c] but was favoured by the family group to maximise the tourism potential for the West Coast. It was announced that 3,971 ha (9,810 acres) would be added to the national park.[10][11] The side track to the Pike River Mine—named Pike29 Memorial Track—was to be 11.6 km (7.2 mi) long[12] and at the time, it was expected for the tracks to open at the end of 2018. Two 20-bunk huts on the Paparoa Track were part of the proposal.[7] The arrangements were formalised in March 2017 through amending the Paparoa National Park Management Plan as construction activity in a National Park is otherwise not permitted.[5][11] Track construction was to start later that autumn and the huts were to be started the following summer, with a construction budget of NZ$10m. The name of Paparoa Track was chosen by the family group of the deceased miners.[11]

It was not until July 2017 (i.e. winter) that construction did start, as announced by Smith in mid-July 2017. The projected track opening had shifted to April 2019 by then.[2] Three different companies were tasked with building sections of the overall project, with Nelmac Limited assigned to one section of the Paparoa Track (from the bushline above the Moonlight Tops Hut to the junction with the Pike29 Memorial Track) and the Pike29 Memorial Track.[3]

Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage officially opening the Paparoa Track

After the change to Labour Government later in 2017, part of the tourism support package announced in December 2017 by the Minister of Tourism, Kelvin Davis, went to Blackball in support of the tracks under construction.[13]

The Paparoa Track was officially opened on 1 December 2019[14][15][16] and after a major slip had been repaired,[15] the track was fully open on 1 March 2020.[17] However, some time after the Pike River Recovery Agency was established, the contractor was removed from the Pike29 Memorial Track. The contractor returned in February 2022.[12] The track officially opened in February 2024.[18]

Paparoa and Pike29 Memorial tracks elevation profiles

Footnotes

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  1. ^ At 0:10 minutes, the video shows that the announcement happened on 17 August 2019 but this is wrong; the minister was in Blackball on 19 July 2017 to announce the construction partners[2][3]
  2. ^ Smith stood in for Conservation Minister Maggie Barry on all matters relating to the Pike River Mine as Barry is a cousin of Bernie Monk who acts as spokesperson for some of the family groups[4][5]
  3. ^ No other purpose-built tracks in National Parks are available for year-round mountain biking, but summer restrictions apply elsewhere.[2] Mountain biking is unrestricted in National Parks only on old tracks that are legal road, for example the Rameka Track in Abel Tasman National Park.[8][9]

References

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  1. ^ "Paparoa Track and Pike29 Memorial Track". Department of Conservation. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
  2. ^ a b c Strong, Sam (19 July 2017). "Construction of new Great Walk on the West Coast to begin soon". Stuff. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
  3. ^ a b "Paparoa Great Walk Construction Set to Start" (Press release). Wellington: Ministry for the Environment. Scoop. 19 July 2017. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
  4. ^ a b O’Connor, Sarah-Jane; Mathewson, Nicole (29 January 2015). "Pike River tragedy: memorial walking track wanted". Stuff. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
  5. ^ a b Carroll, Joanne (14 October 2016). "Pike29 track construction tenders sought". Stuff. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
  6. ^ Keane, Pip (14 November 2015). "Tourist track an insult to dead Pike River miners, says widow". Sunday Star-Times. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
  7. ^ a b Truebridge, Nick (13 May 2016). "Some Pike River families still against memorial track". Stuff. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
  8. ^ "Rameka Track". PlacesNZ. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
  9. ^ "Rameka Track". 100% Pure New Zealand. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
  10. ^ "Pike River walkway confirmed for West Coast". Stuff. 15 November 2015. Archived from the original on 11 September 2017. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
  11. ^ a b c Carroll, Joanne (10 March 2017). "National Park plan launched to make way for new Great Walk in West Coast's Paparoa National Park". Stuff. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
  12. ^ a b Naish, Joanne (30 March 2022). "Pike River mine site handed over to DOC and recovery agency to close". Stuff. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
  13. ^ Davis, Kelvin (15 December 2017). "$14.9 million in tourism funding announced" (Press release). Wellington. Scoop. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
  14. ^ Carroll, Joanne (19 May 2020). "Paparoa Track partially closed until October, while other great journeys reopen". Stuff. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
  15. ^ a b Carroll, Joanne (19 November 2019). "Major slip on NZ's newest Great Walk". Stuff. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  16. ^ Sage, Eugenie (30 November 2019). "New Zealand's newest Great Walk, the Paparoa track opened – an asset for the West Coast" (Press release). Wellington. Scoop. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  17. ^ Carroll, Joanne (28 February 2020). "West Coast's new Paparoa Track opening fully after tricky slip fixed". Stuff. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
  18. ^ "Pike 29 memorial walk and cycle trail opens". Radio New Zealand. 16 February 2024. Retrieved 16 June 2024.
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