 Following considerable debate they chose a site at the top of the valley system for visitor facilities, for its potential to attract visitors, its access and perceived low costs and "benefits for management of both ecology and
visitors".Here they built a NZD1.9 million visitor and education centre which they label as being a "showpiece of environmentally sustainable design".The chosen site "is on a road that is likely to become part of the
Southern Scenic Route, with relatively slow-moving traffic that will
be able to see the visitor centre and stop to investigate", with road links to Port Chalmers, Waitati, Dunedin and State Highway 1.