Peak track under scrutiny

Planning rules that allowed a controversial track to be built up the side of Te Mata Peak without notified consent will be scrutinised by Hastings District Council’s Maori committee this week.

Craggy Range Winery pledged to remove the zig-zagging path up the eastern side of the peak following public outcry and pressure from the Hawke’s Bay iwi Ngati Kahungunu.

The tribe argued the path disfigured the mountain which depicted the reclining figure of an ancestral chief.

An independent review in January heavily criticised the council for failing to fully take into account the cultural implications of its decision.

Both the western and eastern faces of the peak are identified in the current district plan as “outstanding landscapes and features” which should be “afforded the highest priority protection”.

Craggy Range agreed to remove the track in January and originally said it would apply for a resource consent to do so in February.

Hastings District Council said no resource consent had yet been submitted. An online petition to save the track currently has more than 16,000 signatures.