More DOC huts have been burned down in Te Urewera following a High Court injunction that halted hut removals. Te Uru Taumatua, the operating arm of iwi Ngāi Tūhoe, had dismantled 29 of the park’s 48 huts before a court injunction last November prevented further removals. Late last year eight more huts were burned and police are still investigating their circumstances.

Conservationist and former manager of Te Urewera Mainland Island project Peter Shaw said Otamatunu Hut was one of the eight destroyed. It was a bio-diversity focused hut with no public access. “It was the core to the Mainland Island project, that’s where it all started in Te Urewera. Now a two-storey hut is gone, including everything in it – the traps, the storage shed, the wood burning stove. The value to replace it would be in excess of $300,000.” Pakoakoa Hut was also burned. “That one is really tucked away. Not many in the general public would know it existed,” Shaw said.

No date has been set yet by the Rotorua High Court for a hearing on the issues in Te Urewera. Tramping in Te Urewera remained open, with backcountry visitors advised to provide their own shelter at all hut sites.