The manager of Hunter Valley Station, which is at the centre of a spat over public access, says anyone is welcome to use his road if they ask permission.
Hāwea Conservation Park Photo: DOC / John Robinson
The Walking Access Commission and the Department of Conservation are seeking a vehicle easement through Hunter Valley Station, owned by former US TV personality Matt Lauer, which is the gateway to the Hāwea Conservation Park.
Mr Lauer's lawyer Graeme Todd said the public already had walking access over the farm track, which goes about 40km from the farmstead to the head of the station, if they first call up - a condition that was volunteered by Mr Lauer when the sale was made.
"No one really knows our side of the story" - Hunter Valley Station manager Digby Cochrane
Station manager Digby Cochrane told Morning Report his family have allowed people to use their station farm road for the last 40 years.
"We've granted access and anyone's more than welcome to come and have a look," Mr Cochrane said.
He said certain criteria needed to be met, because the road being contested had multiple river crossings, was narrow, and the purpose for access needed to be known before permission was granted.
"Providing they meet all the criteria and the conditions are right [then permission will be granted] ... it's raining at the moment and you'd have to have a snorkel in your vehicle, because there's rivers to cross," Mr Cochrane said.
"You have to ask permission and providing they've got a good four-wheel-drive, the rivers aren't hollow ... then yeah, good as gold.
"As far as hunting goes, we don't really like people hunting on our private property because there's stock around, you know, it's a working farm at the end of the day."
However, there was a lot of safety and managing concerns involved with greater access to Hāwea Conservation Park, he said.
"That's pretty much what this whole argument is about ... everyone wants access to the Hāwea Conservation Park and to get access to the Hāwea Conservation Park there is a track up our side but it's from our homestead," he said.
"It takes you four hours to drive it and you have to cross probably ten rivers to get there, you have to cross the hunter four times which we don't even cross ourselves 'cause it's that high.
"It's almost impossible to drive to the Hāwea Conservation Park, unless you really know what you're doing."
There needed to be more clarity about the purposes for greater access and who would manage that, Mr Cochrane said.
"That's a bit of a grey area because they're [the Walking Access Commission and DOC] not just after walking, they're after cycling, horses, vehicles, aren't they?" he said.
"Whose going to manage this access if you have greater access [approved]? At the moment, we have to rescue people that we let up the valley, we've done it for years, we've had to ... pull people out because they get stuck."
Mr Cochrane's statements follow from Federated Mountain Clubs president Peter Wilson's claims that the managers have been very selective over who got access.
Mr Cochrane said the station's phone number was readily available online and in various directories if people wanted to ask for permission.