Otago Daily Times

Forest bike trail proposal supported

WAIKAIA

- ABBEY PALMER abbey.palmer@odt.co.nz

A MOUNTAINbi­king trail set to boost the economy and attract riders of all abilities to Waikaia has been given the goahead.

Ardlussa Community Board member Hilary Kelso opened the public forum at the Southland District Council services and assets committee meeting this week with a proposal to establish a mountainbi­king track in the Waikaia Forest.

‘‘Cycling in New Zealand is a growing, multimilli­ondollar activity that will bring huge economic, social and cultural growth, not to just Waikaia and the Ardlussa broader area but to the whole of Southland.’’

The community board had preliminar­y discussion­s with Queenstown­based trail builder Tom Hay for the initial master planning and trail design work for the communityl­ed initiative.

At this stage, 50km of trails catering to a range of abilities had been proposed and initial planning was expected to cost about $20,000.

The complete network was anticipate­d to be constructe­d over several years as funding and volunteer resources became available.

‘‘We have been doing our homework . . . one key point struck me, we, as a community board, needed to take responsibi­lity for the developmen­t and growth of our area.’’

Councillor­s agreed unanimousl­y to allow for public access to the Waikaia Forest for the developmen­t and operation of mountainbi­king trails, on the condition of formalisin­g an agreement with land manager IFS Growth Limited.

A trust would be establishe­d, which would be responsibl­e for the trail activity, and a memorandum of understand­ing entered between the council and the trust.

Mrs Kelso said the track would bring many opportunit­ies to Waikaia and neighbouri­ng areas, including new cycling businesses, hot pools and hospitalit­y, as well as diversific­ation opportunit­ies for existing businesses, and land and home owners.

Waikaia resident Colleen Morton said it would provide meaningful benefits to young people and those with disabiliti­es.

‘‘We need things for people who excel outside of the classroom . . . [we want to] include young people in the planning [process].’’

Cr Ebel Kremer commended the presentati­on and said the council would have to consider how it managed the surroundin­g forestry block to avoid harvest damaging the trails.

‘‘It ticks a number of boxes . . . I can certainly see economic benefit for the community and also districtwi­de.’’

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