[Shane Connolly]

Hi,
Press release from DoC on the Mt House shelter.

I should have a new web page up shortly with plans and further details.

Cheers,
Shane Connolly

http://www.doc.govt.nz/Whats-New/presult.asp?prID=899

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New shelter to replace Mountain House
8 nov 2002

A new visitor shelter and toilet will replace the 51-year-old Mountain House up Mt Holdsworth in the Tararua Forest Park.

Popular when the trek from the road end was more demanding, the hut can now be reached in less than two hours and is just two hours away from the 32-bunk Powell Hut which opened in 1999, complete with heating and cooking facilities. Mountain House has deteriorated and is now mainly used as a wet weather day shelter.

The Wellington Tramping and Mountaineering Club – which built Mountain House – sought its replacement with a visitor shelter and has obtained a $5000 Lotteries grant towards the project. The Department of Conservation manages the hut and is contributing the balance of $8000. The new shelter will be opened in April 2003.

DOC Wairarapa area manager Derrick Field said professional volunteers had given their time and expertise to provide specifications and drawings for the shelter which would also be built by volunteers.

?We really appreciate their interest and involvement in this project. This has enabled the project to proceed sooner than would otherwise have been the case.?

Mountain House is identified as a ?non-maintenance hut?, to be removed if the condition deteriorates beyond an acceptable level, in the Tararua Aorangi Huts Committee?s strategy for future hut management, and the Wellington Conservation Management Strategy. The hut management committee is comprised of representatives of 14 tramping and hunting clubs and associations.

Club member Stuart Palmer, part of the engineering team which assessed the condition of Mountain Hut, said if left un-maintained for more than a few more years it would become ?more unsightly and possibly dangerous in this intensely-visited area?.

?A day shelter would be cheaper to build and maintain, less prone to vandalism and would be a valuable asset to the community.

?The condition of the track has improved so much over the years that the three surrounding huts ? Powell, Totara Flats and Atiwhakatu ? serve the area adequately for overnight accommodation.?

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