Coal is still being burned at 27 Department of Conservation huts two years after the department said it was transitioning to wood for heating.
On the West Coast, coal keeps trampers and walkers warm in the Moonlight, Croesus and Pororari Huts on the Paparoa Track "Great Walk"; Kirwans and Big River Huts in the Reefton area; Ada Pass and Cannibal Gorge Huts around Lewis Pass; and the Welcome Flat Hut on the Copland Track, near Fox Glacier.
Act New Zealand discovered the ongoing coal use after an Official Information Act request to Doc. It said there was no plan to stop burning coal.
Act conservation spokeswoman Nicole McKee said in 2021 Doc revealed there were 31 huts relying on coal that would all have changed to wood by the end of 2021.
"It is now 2023, and only four have made the transition," she said.
"Coal may well be essential to keep some Doc huts heated. If that’s the case the Government should never have promised to get rid of it in the first place."
The Government should be tasking Doc with building tracks and maintaining huts so the conservation estate remained the major international attraction it should be, Ms McKee said.
"The Conservation Minister couldn’t commit to a date by which they aim to have coal use phased out by.
"They don’t keep track of the year-by-year cost of coal transportation to Doc-owned huts, or details on the forms of transport they use to transfer it, but they do admit that helicopters are sometimes used to transport the coal.
"It’s clear that Doc has no plan to fulfil this policy, and Labour should have recognised this from the beginning."
Late last year, Doc said 24.9 tonnes of coal had been supplied to heat the huts so far that year.
A total of 10.4 hours of helicopter time was used to supply coal to the 27 huts, it said in information released on its website.
"Coal and firewood are flown to serviced huts for health and safety reasons. This is particularly necessary in the cold winter months when trampers can turn up after dark in cold conditions and need ready access to dry fuel," Doc director planning and services Darryl Lew said.
"We plan to move to firewood, or other low-carbon alternatives, as part of our transition to a low-carbon conservation management operating model."
