Pike River Mine. Photo: AFP / Pool / Iain McGregor
The authority for the police to drill further new bore holes inside Paparoa National Park, for the continuing investigation into the Pike River Mine disaster has been delegated to the Department of Conservation (DOC).
In an update to the West Coast Conservation Board last week on the Pike 29 Memorial Track, and the work needed to upgrade the mine access road, DOC Western South Island director Mark Davies said five of 10 bore holes requested by police were in locations that had been drilled previously.
"We are working through the process with the police," he said.
However, the mining instrument which previously allowed mining activity in the area had now been surrendered by the Pike River Agency.
Previously, it was "relatively easy" to initiate drilling for the investigation, Davies said.
The boreholes would be permitted under a discretionary clause in the National Parks Act which allowed the Minister of Conservation to make a decision, delegated to Davies as regional director.
Board member John Taylor of Reefton asked if any work was planned on the access road in the near future.
Davies said DOC had inherited the road and mine site in June, and had been working with the former Pike River Recovery Agency for some time to remediate the road.
This included work on the seven bridges along a route originally designed to be temporary for the life of the Pike River Mine and so had a limited life, he said.
"The authority we gave to Pike (the company) was all those structures would be removed."
Given the road was now integral to access to the planned visitor experience and the associated Pike 29 Track, the department was looking at a large amount of work on largely single lane structures along the road.
"There is... significant work to do on those bridges to maintain them and strengthen them in part. We think we need 2023 to do that."
Geotechnical engineer Rick Lee, mine worker Luke Taylor, chief operating officer Dinghy Pattinson, mine manager / health and safety manager Greg Duncan, and mine maintenance planner Liam Collins at the Rocsil Plug. Photo: Pike River Recovery Agency
Davies said currently with the civil construction sector busy it would be a matter of getting in line and he could not give a timeline when the road would be opened.
"I had hoped to get the work out to tender before Christmas, but hopefully by early next year."
Meanwhile, the department was working to realise the goal of opening up the valley to visitors including "an enduring remembrance" for the Pike 29.
This included a pavilion at the mine portal as a place of remembrance and reconfiguration of the mine administration building as an interpretation point.
"This will include silhouettes of the 29 going to work. It is going to be a sobering and very respectful learning experience [for visitors]."
It would also be developed to represent "truth holding" for the families of those who had died, Davies said.
Local Democracy Reporting is Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air.