Maintenance grant for track group

Green Hut Track Group volunteers (from left)  Geoff Gardyne, Chris Mansfield, Graeme Elliot, Dick...
Green Hut Track Group volunteers (from left) Geoff Gardyne, Chris Mansfield, Graeme Elliot, Dick Simmers and Murray Gardner tackle a maintenance job on a Silver Peaks track. Photo supplied.
Maintaining Dunedin's Silver Peaks tramping tracks continues in the hands of a dedicated group of volunteers.

Green Hut Group members help keep the walks in good shape on the popular Yellow Ridge section of the Silver Peaks routes.

The group has been given a $1500 grant to continue its track work.

The maintenance work on the route between ABC cave and the Phillip J Cox Memorial hut is carried out in partnership with the Department of Conservation (Doc).

Doc ranger Simon Alefosio-Tuck said the work the group did was ''highly valued''.

''They are dedicated to maintaining tracks in the area to a high standard for the community to enjoy.''

The late George Sutherland formed the group in the early 1990s, after he started walking regularly in the Silver Peaks to regain his fitness after a heart attack.

After others joined him on his walks, they noticed some tracks were deteriorating, so they decided to start clearing and maintaining the tracks while walking.

The group, named after a mustering hut removed from the Silver Peaks in the 1960s, has received a $1500 grant to cover machinery running costs from the New Zealand Outdoor Recreation Consortium, which is run in partnership with Doc using grants from the Community Conservation Partnership Fund (CCPF).

Green Hut Track Group co-ordinator Graeme Elliot said funding from the recreation consortium was welcomed as it covered costs for servicing mechanical equipment.

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