Franz Josef used to be known only for its glacier, but now tourist operators have expanded into bird-watching, kayaking, rafting and fishing excursions. The small West Coast town now hosts about a million visitors each year, Marjorie Cook reports.
About half-way down the South Island's long, long West Coast is the tiny town of Franz Josef, tucked between the foot of a 7000-year-old glacier and the Tasman Sea.
It is home to about 330 residents - people like Marcel Fekkes, the Christchurch-born, Netherlands-raised community board chairman, who moved to the tourist town in 2004 with his wife Wendy and runs three businesses - two accommodation outfits and a quadbike tour activity.
It is not unusual for Franz Josef residents to turn their hand to a multitude of occupations. They have to provide services, activities and company for more than 1 million visitors a year.
More than half of those visitors want to visit Franz Josef and explore for themselves the rare example of a rainforest glacier just 250m above sea level.
It is one of just three glaciers in the world so low and close to the coast. Another is Fox Glacier, 23km south of Franz Josef, and the third is in Argentina.
The Franz Josef and Fox Glacier villages, in the heart of the Westland Tai Poutini National Park, were founded by gold miners. Then came farmers and tourism industry pioneers.
Fifty years ago, Franz Josef had one hotel. Now it boasts accommodation choices from five-star to backpackers.
Ice-based tourism is no longer the only story in town. Operators have expanded into bird-watching, kayaking, rafting and fishing excursions.
Franz Josef's focus is turning to commercial and urban expansion and creating more facilities to support the growing range of tourist activities. Locals have a vision of a thriving, bustling town that one day could support a high school, Mr Fekkes said.
"Obviously, the township is set in the national park. There's further development planned in the town and it is going to grow, because tourism is growing. So what we have to have is amenities that cope with growth. That's got to happen hand-in-hand with Doc, to make sure the flow of tourism continues," he said.
Last weekend, the issue of commercialisation and conservation was confronted head-on, at the national park's 50th anniversary celebrations.
The Department of Conservation organised the event to recognise the "contribution, influence and value the park holds for Maori, early pioneers, coasters, recreationalists, alpinists, scientists, geologists and every-day New Zealanders.
Minister of Conservation Kate Wilkinson was invited to speak at a forum entitled "Fostering commercial recreational on public conservation land. What will success look like?", and hundreds of people from all walks of life descended for a weekend of reminiscences and debate.
The forum started with mining, a subject dear to the heart of the nation and nowhere more so than on the West Coast.
But there was also plenty of talk about tourism investment, freedom camping, recreational and commercial activities and making more of the conservation estate's treasures accessible for those not fit or wanting to walk.
Attendees said afterwards they took heart from comments by Department of Conservation director-general Al Morrison, that he didn't want national parks "wrapped in formaldehyde" and "if humans don't live in harmony with the environment, we are dog tucker".
Similarly, Mrs Wilkinson's assertion the department must "work with businesses and the community to make sure [the conservation assets] are used properly, appropriately, reasonably and rationally" was music to residents' ears.
There were also calls for caution.
Les Molloy, of Wellington, a Federated Mountains Club nominee on the National Park Authority from 1977 to 1982, was among those who lobbied to get Okarito and Waikukupa forests added to the Westland Tai Poutini National Park.
He told the Otago Daily Times he didn't want to be a "wowser" about commercial and urban development in national parks, but warned of Canada's experience. There, development management rules have been imposed on the Banff National Park to protect the environment from human impacts, including the impacts of about 4 million visitors a year.
"There are some who believe commercialism has already gone too far at Franz Josef," Mr Molloy said.
Mr Fekkes' perspective on the commercialism versus conservation debate - and he stressed it was his personal perspective because the Franz Josef Community Board has not yet formally discussed it - is that national parks are a good asset for tourist operators but New Zealand is still not making enough use of the national park treasures for tourism.
He has his view on mining - provided that national parks are delved into "in a key-hole fashion", that open-cast mines don't create great holes all over the place, and that it takes place out of public sight, mining should be possible - but his immediate concern is that Franz Josef keeps pace with tourism development and growth.
Mr Fekkes, like many Coasters, is quick to remind everyone the West Coast was founded on mining - "it is our national history" - and he believes the Government is fully capable of understanding what should be possible and what is unpalatable to New Zealanders regarding activities in conservation areas.
Fortunately, for Franz Josef and Mr Fekkes, the Westland National Park is not included in land earmarked for future prospecting.
Franz Josef's hot political potato recently has been a six-year fight over helipad issues that Mr Fekkes hopes is now over.
Two weeks ago, the Westland District Council decided to reverse earlier decisions to close the Franz Josef helipad on the banks of the Waiho River.
The council has appointed its council-controlled organisation, Hokitika Airport Ltd, to administer the facility, which has 20,000 helicopter movements a year and is the busiest heliport in the country. Whether the case is truly over yet remains to be seen.
Property developer Gavin Molloy, who has resource consent for a new commercial helipad on the northern outskirts of Franz Josef, told the Otago Daily Times he was furious and planned further action against the council for scuttling his proposal.
Now that heliport management has been clarified (for now), Mr Fekkes is now focusing on town amenities - things that will make the town a better home for residents and a great experience for visitors.
The first step is to beautify Franz Josef's main street, State Highway 6, which Mr Fekkes was disturbed to hear described recently as a "Third-World bus stop".
"That's what we don't want," he said.
But he concedes the street could do with a face-lift.
"In our mind's eye, if you look at Queenstown or Wanaka centres, they are well-designed and implemented. That's what we are looking for," Mr Fekkes said.
In recent years, Franz Josef businesses have invested in assets, such as restaurants and cafes, a climbing centre, a hot pool complex, new motels and lodges, but it has been a little ad-hoc and the infrastructure is beginning to lag behind, he said.
The Westland District Council is not blessed with a budget the size of Queenstown Lakes and does not have lots of money to spend on consultation and planning exercises.
So the Franz Josef Development Society Inc (also known as Franz Inc, is chaired by Mr Fekkes and has 90% of the town's businesses as members) has got down on a revitalisation project done by Auckland architect Mark Hall recently for a private developer.
They are using that as a basis for discussion on an urban upgrade and Mr Fekkes said the public consultation phase should be swiftly dealt with in a matter of weeks, through four community forums.
The proposal includes removing most of the parking from the main street to a car park in front of the heliport.
The car park is already there, but many people do not use it, partly because they can't see it behind a thickly vegetated area of native trees.
Mr Fekkes said an agreement was being negotiated with Doc to open out the vegetation (leaving large trees intact) and create a park-like space through which people can make the very short walk back to the shops and cafes.
A sculpture has also been commissioned from artist Hannah Kidd to commemorate the national park's 50th anniversary.
The bronze rowi kiwi will sit on top of a granite slab and Mr Fekkes hopes it may be unveiled in the new public space in about six months.
Other proposals include roundabouts and traffic calming measures at both ends of the main street and new footpaths and paved areas.
On the business front, Franz Josef suffered a blow when the $6.5 million Hukuwai Glacier Centre, which opened in 2007, as a rainy day activity for tourists, was put into receivership last year, owing $5.07 million to Development West Coast.
International Antarctic Centre owner Richard Benton reportedly paid an undisclosed multimillion-dollar sum to buy the outfit recently, to be refitted as a wilderness attraction without the costly ice climbing wall.
Mr Benton's purchase is exciting and Mr Fekkes says the concept includes housing live penguins and other wildlife in the building.
"It was horrible to see a business fold and be closed for the summer. The idea behind it is fantastic. Some indoor activities would be fantastic," Mr Fekkes said.
Despite being owed money by the glacier centre, Development West Coast last month reportedly stumped up $3.6 million for the Top 10 Holiday Park at the northern end of town, and has leased it back to the present operator. This investment has also been welcomed by the town.
Franz Josef's community, social and cultural needs also need to be addressed, and the Franz Josef Community Forum (also chaired by Mr Fekkes) is pushing things along.
The West Coast District Health Board and St John are jointly planning a new area facility, final details a timeframe for which have yet to be confirmed.
There is a primary school and a child-care facility is being designed and planned, which Mr Fekkes hopes will be open next year. Secondary-school aged pupils attend either South Westland High School, at Harihari, or go boarding in another town.
Franz Josef has always been a seasonal town and most of the seasonal staff are from overseas. Mr Fekkes says New Zealanders are "hard to get", probably because of the isolation, although he believes Franz Josef wages are better than in some other places in New Zealand.
"What we want to achieve is enough amenities for young families to reside here permanently, not just in the season. Therefore we want quality houses, services, recreation facilities. And further down the track, we are looking at a high school... There are heaps of challenges. It is a very interesting place, very exciting, and is definitely going to grow."
VISITORS BY THE MILLIONS
Westland Tai Poutini National Park
Some numbers:
- $221.6 million: economic contribution from activities on West Coast public conservation land to West Coast economy in 2003.
- $232 million: amount visitors spent on the West Coast in 2006.
- 1.2 million: number of international visitors to West Coast in 2006.
- 1.9 million: forecast number of international visitors to West Coast next year.
- 65%: percentage of visitors who have said public conservation land was a main reason for visiting.
- 10.6%: percentage of West Coast workforce employed in tourism600,000: number of visitors to Franz Josef and Fox glaciers each year.
- 1960: the year the national park was formed.
- 8403: population of Westland District (Kumara to Haast).
- 330: population of Franz Josef.
Sources: Doc; Statistics New Zealand; Lincoln University
The name:
The frozen ice field was first named Ka Roimata O Hinehukatere (the tears of the avalanche girl) by Maori but Julius Von Haast, a geologist and explorer, decided in 1863 to rename it after the emperor of the Austro-Hungarian empire. Hinehukatere was a Maori woman who loved climbing and enticed her lover, Tawe, to climb the mountains with her. He fell to his death and Hinehukatere's many tears froze to form the glacier.
