The Department of Conservation has completed the sale of Waikaremoana Holiday Park to Tūhoe iwi authority Te Uru Taumatua.

Both parties have indicated it will ensure the facility continues to thrive as part of Te Urewera.

Te Uru Taumatua conducts operational management of Te Urewera on behalf of Te Urewera Board.

The Department of Conservation (DoC), in a statement, said it had been working with Te Uru Taumatua for more than a year to transition management of the holiday park.

“The transition has focused on ensuring visitors continue to enjoy a genuine experience at Lake Waikaremoana,” the statement read.

Te Uru Taumatua chief executive Kirsti Luke, in the statement, said the holiday park would continue to operate as usual and lake access would be maintained while “complementing new investment and allowing for new experiences” in Te Urewera.

“This is a place where people can come to experience nature differently – where we are part of the forest, not separate and where visitors can enter the home of Tūhoe and feel at home themselves,” Luke said.

“The strongest feedback we have about the Waikaremoana Great Walk now is the unique opportunity to experience and learn about the Tūhoe homeland and culture from our Tūhoe wardens.

“The holiday park, which is the gateway to Te Urewera for many, enhances the connection between Tūhoe, Te Urewera and our guests.”

Te Urewera was recognised as its own legal personality by the world-first Te Urewera Act in 2014.

Luke said Te Urewera was not just the home of the Lake Waikaremoana Great Walk, or beautiful scenery, or the largest rainforest in the North Island.

“It’s more than all of these things. It’s a place for recreation, learning and inspiration, and it’s a place that changes you.”

DoC deputy director general regional operations Henry Weston said DoC and Te Uru Taumatua worked closely together in recent years to support the Tūhoe vision of Te Urewera.

The transfer of the holiday park was a natural progression.

“Te Uru Taumatua has progressively invested in infrastructure, including upgrading water and waste systems at Panekire hut on the Great Walk, as well as new community facilities in Waikaremoana and Ruatāhuna,” Weston said.

“The holiday park is in need of new investment, something Te Uru Taumatua is much better placed to deliver.

“The transfer of the holiday park builds on that wholly Te Urewera experience and is something we’re delighted to celebrate alongside Te Uru Taumatua.”

The land on which the holiday park sits is a part of the original lakebed of Waikaremoana. It is Māori freehold land owned by the Tūhoe Charitable Trust board and Wairoa-Waikaremoana Māori Trust Board.

It has been leased to the Crown since 1967.

The sale of the holiday park does not affect the lease or the underlying ownership, and lake access remains unchanged.