Piecing Together 196km Whale Trail No Easy Feat

Tuesday, 23 July 2024, 8:34 pm
Article: Maia Hart - Local Democracy Reporter

The team behind a 200km cycleway from Picton to Kaikōura has called on the council to keep the job moving as it looks to ramp up construction.

Meanwhile, the Whale Trail is keen to become the country’s 24th Ngā Haerenga Great Ride once completed.

But with less than half of the trail constructed, project lead Nigel Muir says it’s time to put the foot down.

Muir told the council’s assets and services committee this month there were three construction teams working on the project and they aimed to “accelerate that rapidly” in the year ahead.

About $9m had been spent on the project to date, of $28m budgeted.

“That's just to build the trail, we believe that's another $4m to do all the soft touch around it.

“This year we are going to spend about $15m. We are on a fast track, we are firmly on the right hand side, the overtaking lane of the highway, on this project.”

Muir said different pockets of the path were being ticked off as and when consents were obtained.

“As much as we would like to do this project in a tidy, linear fashion, you can't,” he told the committee.

“Once you've got an easement, or access, or a resource consent we send the team in to build. That's what we're doing.

“I think if we don't do that, we would be in a lot of trouble as a project.”

The "shovel-ready" project was given $18m in funding from the government's regional economic development organisation, Kānoa - RDU.

Resource consents would be soon needed or had been lodged for a number of larger bridge crossings, such as a Waimā/Ure River bridge clip-on, a Kēkerengū crossing, and a Lake Elterwater flyover, Muir said.

“It sounds quite simple when you say it that fast, but believe me, to get to that point in resource consenting, there has been endless discussion with our iwi partners, with Heritage New Zealand, with landowners, with Department of Conservation and their ecology team, with Geotech advisers.

“But these bridges, we plan to have well towards completion by the end of this financial year, so it's pretty exciting.

“We've got 38 of them in total on this trail, I think eight of them are large-scale, civil engineer projects.”

Muir said they wanted to get the path certified as a Ngā Haerenga Great Ride once the trail was completed.

There were 23 Great Rides around the country already, Muir said, with data showing these had 2.1 million users. That number was growing 10% every year.

Meanwhile, the trail from Tuamarina, north of Blenheim, to Seddon, south of Blenheim, had been completed.

But Muir later asked for the council to help with signs on blindspots and dust on these areas.

“We've got a lot of issues to deal with, without running back and spending more money on a piece we can already get through.”

This sat with a number of other ways Muir told the council they could help.

These included “political influence” and reminding central government they were in charge of the Picton elevation leg of the project, helping them to tell stories along the trail, native plantings, maintenance and communication.

He pitched the idea of the council forming a small working group, made up of staff and councillors, that met once a month.

Some natives had already been planted, but Muir said they had an “ambition” to put more than 100,000 in the ground.

“Putting in more native plants is going to enhance the user experience.”

Closer to Kaikōura, part of the track from Clarence would go inland after consultation with iwi partners, reaching a height of 600m above sea level, Muir said.

Marlborough mayor Nadine Taylor told Muir the regional transport committee, which included senior members of New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi, was aware of the Picton elevation site.

“When a minister does visit we can certainly make sure it's raised through that forum too,” Taylor said.

She said the council would look to help within existing budgets where they could, such as the issue with dust through the Redwood Pass.

“You're right, a little bit more co-ordination is probably in order.”

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.

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