Tourists are hampering contractor efforts to get Cathedral Cove walking access reinstated.

Department of Conservation (DoC) staff and contractors are turning away dozens of visitors every day.

The track to the popular beach has been closed to the public since February 2023, when it was extensively damaged by extreme weather events including Cyclone Gabrielle.

In a statement, DoC said members of the public accessing the track while it was closed were compromising the delivery of work required to fully reopen it.

They were entering an active and hazardous worksite, DoC said.

Hahei Residents and Ratepayers Association member Penne Clayton echoed DoC concerns and believed it was tourists trying to access the closed walking track, rather than residents.

“It is all tourists.”

She said they were turning up to the site and asking contractors why they couldn’t access the track.

Contractors then had to down tools, compromising the December deadline for completion of works, Clayton said.

“We want to get it open by early December, but people keep walking the track and then contractors have to down tools.

“Tourists are turning up there and saying, ‘I’ve travelled 11,000 kilometres to see this’.

“Please stay off the track for the next month or so.”

Thames-Coromandel district councillor and Mercury Bay Community Board member Deli Connell.

Thames-Coromandel district councillor and Mercury Bay Community Board member Deli Connell said contractors were angry because they wanted to get the work completed by early December.

“We are desperate to see it opened, it is a health and safety matter as it is high-risk activity working out there.”

Work began in August to reinstate temporary walking access with the removal of dangerous trees and self-sown wilding pines.

A detailed map of the track closures around Cathedral Cove.

DoC has two Cathedral Cove work programmes under way, funded through the International Visitor Levy. One is to reinstate temporary walking access to the cove this coming summer and the other is to restore long-term visitor access and visitor management at the site.

In July the track received a $5 million boost for a rebuild as part of a $25m tourist levy injection for the environment.

Conservation Minister Tama Potaka confirmed the package as a “short-term fix” for Cathedral Cove and it was expected to reopen in time for this summer.

DoC Hauraki-Waikato-Taranaki regional director Tinaka Mearns said accessing Cathedral Cove remained a marine-only experience until December.

Meanwhile, a team from the Predator Free Hauraki Coromandel Community Trust were working to reduce pest plants in Cathedral Cove as part of the project to restore the area and reinstate walking access to the popular beach.

Mearns said DoC wanted the area to be in “great shape” for visitors when it reopened.

“Alongside cyclone damage, the area is also under threat from introduced pest plants that stand to undermine the area’s unique beauty and native biodiversity.”

The involvement of the community trust in the Cathedral Cove work programme was a great boost for the project, Mearns said.

“They’ve done some excellent work removing pest plants and tidying up vegetation across the reserve during the last few weeks.

“It’s been hard physical work and we’ve been impressed by the results; involving an organisation like this trust to contribute to walking access reinstatement supports the local community and helps us build a partnership with a recognised conservation contributor in the area.”

The Cathedral Cove Cruises tour boat outside Cathedral Cove.

Trust chief executive Jude Hooson said trust members recognised the importance of Cathedral Cove and the significance of opening it up to the public.

“We’re really delighted to be part of the collaborative effort. In many ways this is an extension of the recovery support our field support team has already provided to groups across the peninsula.

“In addition to helping to open up the main walkway, this is also an opportunity to remove problematic pest plants as a first step towards enhancing the native biodiversity of this very special place.”

In May, DoC announced a range of options for the reinstatement of walking access to the beach.

The Coromandel community was asked to provide feedback through a series of DoC-hosted drop-in sessions in Whitianga and Hāhei and through an online feedback portal.

The planned visitor management work was supported by Ngāti Hei, who had voiced concerns about the high level of tourism impacting Cathedral Cove and the risk to visitors.

-Waikato Herald.