Plans for a new 12-bunk hut in the Kaimai-Mamaku Forest Park have been held up and the project is now expected to be completed in time for spring.

The project is being run by the Kaimai Ridgeway Trust (KRT), which represents tramping and deerstalkers’ clubs from Auckland, Waikato, the Coromandel and Bay of Plenty.

The group hoped to build the new hut before last summer, but the project was delayed as negotiations continued with DOC for final sign-off. It is understood that DOC put a final hurdle in place, requesting a $50,000 deposit to insure the hut. After negotiations, the hut will now be guaranteed by the Backcountry Trust. It will be called Te Whare Okioki – The Resting Place.

KRT secretary and Auckland Tramping Club president Tony Walton said the new hut will be included on DOC’s booking system, but will be managed by the trust as a serviced hut.

“Like most huts in the region, it will probably be booked out every weekend,” Walton said.

Walton hoped construction would start within weeks.

The hut would be on the North South Track, in the southern part of the Kaimai Range, near Ngamuwahine Shelter. It would be about a three-hour walk to the hut on the Te Tuhi Track, from the Te Tuhi Road end near Matamata. From the east, it could be accessed from the Whakamarama Road end.