Megan Dimozantos: DOC proposes increase in charges to stay in huts

Back-country hut users say the Department of Conservation needs to step up maintenance if it wants to increase charges. 

A proposal suggests charging people up to $57 a night to use many huts, as well as switching from a first-come-first-served system to a hotel-style booking system. 

Federated Mountain Clubs President Megan Dimozantos says the community has no issue with paying a modest charge for the facilities if the money goes back into the hut system. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:09):
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Speaker 2 (00:17):
Doc wants to start charging trampers for the basically for
the use of basic backcountry huts bit of a tongue
twist to that one, and shelters in order to raise
more money. A number of different options are proposed that
would see between nine hundred million and three million dollars raised.
One option is to increase the price of staying at

(00:39):
a back country at fifty seven dollars a night per
adult and twenty nine dollars for youths, making the sites
bookable rather than first come, first served. And Megan, I've
got to get this right. Dima Xantos is the Federated
Mountain Club's president and we good morning Megan, how are you?

Speaker 3 (00:58):
Good morning Tim? And you got the last name spot
on there?

Speaker 2 (01:01):
Oh good, thank yous. Was this a surprise.

Speaker 3 (01:07):
Look, we've got a good relationship with Doc and so
it wasn't a surprise. It's probably, it's disappointing. Is probably
is probably where we sit on this at the moment.
So we've been having ongoing discussions with the department. And yeah,
I guess the problem is is that they have they
appear to have predetermined outcomes in mind for this particular topic,

(01:31):
and that's not unusual when the department consults either.

Speaker 2 (01:35):
So I mean, when is it going to end up
that we're going to have these charges or do you
think there's going to be a bit of a room
to move on this.

Speaker 3 (01:43):
Look to be clear, our community isn't against a modest
charge for back country huts. You know, they are of
value to the community. They also have an intrinsic value
as well that really you can't put a dollar amount on.
So so our community isn't against a modest charge, but

(02:03):
that's on the proviso that those fees are rings then
go back into the back country network, that the conservation
volunteers get free use of those facilities, and that those
facilities don't go onto the booking system, because we feel
that that would degrade the back country culture that's developed

(02:24):
over time.

Speaker 2 (02:25):
It's a lot of money, isn't it. If you went
tramping with your family, what you've got almost sixty dollars
times too for a couple of adults and then kids.
That's fro about it. Close to one hundred and fifty
bucks for a night for a family of four, aren't you.

Speaker 3 (02:37):
Yeah, And look, that's one of the problems as well,
is that you kind of then are isolating people from
their own backyard. You know, we're really lucky in New Zealand.
We've got beautiful back country where we're so lucky that
we've got the public conservation to state here, and that's
how people connect with nature and decide that they want
to protect that moving forward. And part of conservation is

(02:58):
making sure that people have access to experiencing nature and
wanting to protect it.

Speaker 2 (03:04):
Who uses the huts? What's the balance between volunteers and
just recreational trampers.

Speaker 3 (03:11):
So there's no there's no exact data on that, but
I think that what you find is that most trampers
and hunters are doing some form of conservation work. So
so those huts are used for conservation work. They're also
used for recreation, they're used for people gathering, kai they
use for families who want to experience nature. So, you know,

(03:35):
like I said before, there's a there's a real intrinsic
value that exists in those huts as well.

Speaker 2 (03:42):
The booking and advance on the face of it, looks
like a good idea, but you're.

Speaker 3 (03:45):
Not such a fan of that, no, So so there's
there's a couple of reasons why we're not a fan
of that. Firstly, you know, there's a there's a culture
that's developed in in the back country, and I've experienced
this myself over over the break just recently, where if
more people show up than there are beds, everyone kind

(04:06):
of MUCKs in and makes that work because you know,
we're all about supporting each other and looking after each other.
In the back country, you know, some people might sleep
on the floor, some people might have tents, so they
give up their bunk and go outside and sleep in
their tents. Whereas when you've got that hotel style booking
system that creates it creates a different culture where people

(04:31):
show up in their life well, I'm entitled to this
bunk and I don't really care about what's going on
with anyone else who may have shown up, So it
does degrade that culture. The other problem is that from
a safety perspective, people should be making their decisions in
the back country based on the conditions, the weather, how

(04:53):
their group is feeling, and making good, solid, safe decisions
based on those things. They shouldn't be making decisions based
on when they booked their accommodation.

Speaker 2 (05:04):
Very good point. Actually, hey, thanks so much for your time.
That's Megan Demosantos, Federated Mountain Club's president.

Speaker 1 (05:12):
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