A Te Tauihu iwi hopes to breathe new life into Te Hoiere Pelorus Bridge Scenic Reserve if it is granted permission to operate the beauty spot’s famed cafe and campground this summer.

People were invited to submit tenders for a concession to run the cafe and campground on the reserve, halfway between Blenheim and Nelson, after the previous concession ended in April. The cafe had since been closed, but the campground was still open.

Only one tender was received by the deadline of September 25, from Ngāti Kuia’s Kaikaiāwaro Charitable Trust. The iwi is tangata whenua of Te Hoiere Pelorus area.

The trust’s tumu toihau (chief executive) Eugene Whakahoehoe said if successful, they planned to provide much more than just coffee, pies and a place to pitch a tent, he said.

“We do have a whole bunch of aspirations around the Pelorus Bridge café and camping ground, but more importantly for the Te Hoiere area itself,” he said.

“This is more than just a business concept for us, it’s more than just running a camping ground and a café, we’re looking at the bigger picture, and I suppose, an enduring picture.”

Whakahoehoe said some of these aspirations included promoting arts and crafts, and introducing guided walks and tours of the scenic reserve, so people could learn about the rich history of the area.

“We’d like to open that up and really tell a few more stories about the area that probably aren’t told as much and as often as they should be,” he said.

One of these stories, Whakahoehoe said, was Ngāti Kuia’s deep connection to pakohe (argillite), a hard mineral deposited along the banks of Te Hoiere, used to make axes and traditional carving tools.

“Ngāti Kuia has traditionally collected this material and turned it into work tools for centuries, so we want to bring those stories forward as well,” he said.

“It’s uniquely Ngāti Kuia when we started taking about pakohe – Ngāti Kuia itself is known as Te iwi Pakohe.

“So we want to bring those stories back, and we’re looking to partner with other iwi who’ve got history in the area to achieve some of these aspirations.”

Whakahoehoe said another plan was to work with local businesses to bolster tourism in the area and promote the area as a destination itself, rather than a stop-off point on State Highway 6.

“The first step is just getting through the concession process to make sure that we can operate the camping ground, so that it still delivers on the same quality that it always has,” he said.

“The Pelorus camping ground continues to be an awesome whānau family camping area.”

As for the cafe, Whakahoehoe said the Kaikaiāwaro Trust was “going through the finer details” of working on a sustainable business model for the eatery.

“What are the right type of services to have in there? We don’t want dirty investments where you’ve got the creation of a lot of rubbish,” he said.

“So we’ll be very careful about the food and services that we do put in there, because we want to ensure that what we do in there actually aligns to our responsibilities as kaitiaki, and we’ve got a consistent story about our dedication to restoration.

“We’re not going to compromise ourselves by putting in services and products that aren’t aligned with what we’re trying to achieve there.”

Whakahoehoe said Ngāti Kuia was part of the community and wanted to get the rest of the community involved in the new projects “wherever we can” to help protect and highlight the “uniqueness” of Te Hoiere.

“It’s one of the most environmentally pristine and beautiful areas you’ll find,” he said.

“So we just want to make sure all of our actions and decisions we make actually further promote that, and ideally, our aspiration would for it be an exemplar of communities and iwi coming together with common aspirations and goals to do the right thing.”

People can view the application on the DOC website, and make a submission before the deadline of December 8.