Marlborough Express - Weekend Express
Work set to begin on Whale Trail
‘‘We have engaged a construction project manager and are working on the detailed design, resource consent processes and finalising access.’’
Work is expected to start on parts of the 200km Whale Trail from Picton to Kaiko¯ura this month.
The shared walkway and cycleway has been in the pipeline for years, floated after the 2016 earthquake as a way to showcase the east coast as a tourism destination, rather than a thoroughfare.
The ‘‘shovel-ready’’ project gained an $18 million investment in July from the Government’s Infrastructure Industry Reference Group (IRG), intended to stimulate the economy after lockdown. The IRG funding bolstered the Whale Trail’s earlier grants, including $2m from the Marlborough District Council.
Whale Trail Trust chairman Luke van Velthooven said the trust hoped to start work on extending an existing cycleway at Riverlands, southeast of Blenheim, before the end of the year.
The first section to be completed would be the 32km Picton to Blenheim leg, which now had a timeframe for completion at mid-2022.
‘‘We have engaged a construction project manager and are working on the detailed design, resource consent processes and finalising access,’’ van Velthooven said.
The project, originally named the Coastal Pacific Trail, had its genesis in an opinion column published in the Marlborough
Express written by now-trustee Dr John Forrest in January 2017.
Forrest had said the trail could be worked into the State Highway 1 rebuild, to connect tourism and accommodation providers along the east coast, ‘‘traversing some of the most beautiful seascapes and pastoral vistas in the world’’.
Nearly four years on, the trail was expected to create 42 fulltime jobs over three years of construction, with around 130 indirect jobs created each year through increased tourism in the area.
Thousands of international tourists were expected to use the trail each year, and tens of thousands of domestic visitors.
More than a third of the route was owned by KiwiRail, Waka Kotahi NZTA, NCTIR and the Department of Conservation, but another third would require agreements with private landowners. About 10 per cent of the route could use existing pathways.
Van Velthooven said the ‘‘real mahi’’ following the funds from the Provincial Development Unit had been in developing meaningful, lasting partnerships with all the different groups involved.
That included iwi, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, the Kaiko¯ ura and Marlborough councils, and the Ra¯ ta¯ Foundation.
And there was still a lot of community engagement to happen along the way, van Velthooven said.
‘‘Engaging with local landowners, iwi, councils and community is a key focus right now, as we explore how to create something special for all of our community to enjoy.’’