Routeburn hut closing for revamp

Date:  02 May 2013

Routeburn Falls hut on the Routeburn Track will be closed from 13-27 May 2013 to allow painting of the hut interior.

The walls and floor of the 17-year-old hut will receive a coat of clear polyurethane, given by Dulux as part of a $1.5 million partnership between DOC and Dulux New Zealand to paint and protect public huts and lodges over the next three years.

Routeburn Flats Hut will remain open and can be used as alternative accommodation for those wishing to stay on the track, DOC visitor assets ranger in Glenorchy, Will McBeth, said.

The Kiwi Burn Hut in Snowden Forest, Southland, is another hut that has benefitted from the Dulux partnership. The exterior has just been painted by volunteers, with free paint provided by Dulux.

Kiwi Burn Hut

This local paint job is part of a national Protecting our Place partnership between DOC and Dulux New Zealand.  DOC looks after a network of 973 huts, providing shelter for New Zealanders when they are on public conservation land. Dulux provides 45,000 litres of free paint and an additional 9,000 litres of woodcare products to help paint huts and buildings over the next three years. 

Dulux and DOC are now opening up the partnership to community and club huts as well. If your group has a hut on conservation land that needs a lick of paint, you can apply for free paint to help protect your place. Some conditions apply. Visit the Protecting our Place website for details and an application form.

Background

The 48-bunk Routeburn Falls hut is one of DOC’s busiest huts, as more than 12,000 independent walkers complete the Routeburn Track a year.

This partnership means that resources that would have been used to purchase paint can now be redistributed to other priority conservation projects.

The partnership aims to protect our places and preserve NZ’s iconic heritage huts, a priceless part of our heritage and outdoor culture, to enable future generations to experience the stunning backcountry of NZ.

The partnership is good for New Zealand because we are working to protect some of our most valuable public assets that New Zealanders love, and people all over the world come to enjoy.

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