Lance Roosendaal from Rafting Adventure takes a family group on the Rangitaiki River, using the new staircase from the Aniwhenua Power Station Photo: Troy Baker / LDR
One of Whakatāne District's best white water rafting spots has become much more accessible, thanks to the energy company that manages one of the hydro-electric power stations on the river.
The 10km stretch of the Rangitaiki River between the Aniwhenua Power Station and its crossing with Galatea Road is a rafting experience that has grade two (mild) whitewater, is incredibly scenic and suitable for the whole family - once you get to it.
Several rafting companies make trips to the site from Rotorua, including Rafting Adventures, run by Whakatāne's Lance Roosendaal.
Roosendaal told Local Democracy Reporting the new stairs had changed that part of the river from a grade 5 in difficulty to a grade 2.
"The river is grade two but the entry to it was a grade five."
Until earlier this year, reaching the entry point at the power station involved a heart-in-mouth scramble down a steep, rocky incline from the carpark to the water's edge. This limited those able to make the trip to those capable of the difficult descent.
Recognising this, Southern Generation and Pioneer Energy, who partner in managing the power station, have put over $100,000 into creating stairs for river users.
Power station manager Craig Rowe said the directors of the company recognised the community recreational value of the river and decided to build the stairs after looking at the risk to members of the public in entering the river.
He said the stairs took about six months to put in place, from engineering, planning and building and was finished in January.
The dam and power station were built by Bay of Plenty Electricity in 1981. Photo: Troy Baker / LDR
The stairs utilise a concrete block set in the riverbank which once supported a crane.
"It is very well engineered and, the lower part, especially, has had to be made very robust as it will be covered by water during flooding events."
Former Bay of Plenty regional councillor Bill Clark, who has been campaigning for better access to the river for kayakers for the past 16 years, is delighted with the new access stairs.
"It is indeed a wonderous thing. It also opens up genuine potential for a white water rafting company to operate out of Whakatāne. If Whakatāne District Council doesn't promote this as an attraction they will be missing a trick.
"It's probably the best grade 2 white water in the North Island," Clark said. "Grade 2 is really ideal for tourist activities. You can get in a thrill without being too dangerous with it. I have done that trip several times back in the day."
Clark said it was well known to the Eastern Bay's heartier sportspeople.
"Our local coast to coast competitors train on that water. So, my son Sam knows it like the back of his hand."
He said it signalled a complete turnaround from the attitude of the power station's previous owners, which he felt was discouraging of a kayak and rafting culture on the river, often locking the gates 100 metres from the river entry point.
The dam and power station were built by Bay of Plenty Electricity in 1981, during Prime Minister Robert Muldoon's Think Big' era.
"This was before the Resource Management Act when the consent process for projects like this didn't need to have any social context to it," Clark said. "They didn't have to think about the issues it would pose for people who used the river or how it would affect biodiversity of the river."
The power station was sold to Todd Corporation and Nova Energy in 1998, and Clark said it seemed from his perspective that Nova had not been keen to encourage the development of the river.
He said Nova Energy had plans around 16 years ago to put another dam at the end of the grade 2 run, which had never eventuated.
The Southern Generation Partnership purchased the Aniwhenua hydro station from Nova Energy in 2016, partnering with Pioneer Energy to manage the station and, wearing his regional councillor hat, Clark was able to meet with the new owners and advocate for better access.
"I had some very stern words. You ask anyone who was the grumpiest person at that meeting," Clark said.
"They said they would go away and think about it, and this is what they have come back with."
Rowe said that the gates 100m from the power station would still be closed when staff left for the day, for safety reasons. But when staff were there, it would remain open. The company had also installed security fencing around the parking and picnic area by the Aniwaniwa Falls, adjacent to the power station, to make it safer for visitors.
Local Democracy Reporting is Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air.