Delay in starting cycle trail

Building the 104km Around The Mountains Cycle Trail is unlikely to get under way this year, because the Southland District Council is still waiting for an archaeologist's report.

With construction originally planned to start at the beginning of this year, the $11 million trail faced some opposition, finally gaining partial resource consent in August. The trail, which will become part of Prime Minister John Key's national cycleway initiative, needs an archaeologist's report before work can start on the Kingston-Mossburn-Lumsden leg. The Southland council was granted $4 million by the Government to build the section of trail but the 28km section between the Mt Nicholas Rd bridge and the proposed Oreti suspension bridge failed to gain consent in August in the face of opposition from Fish and Game and several farmers in the area.