A shortfall of just over $149,000 remains for the Gibbston Community Association to complete the Gibbston River Trail, something it hopes to do this year.
Association chairwoman Susan Stevens said originally there was $1.4 million required to build the 8km public walking and mountain-biking trail, along the true right bank of the Kawarau River at Gibbston, but several large grants had covered the bulk of the cost.
Those grants included $11,000 from William Torrance Trust and $3000 from the Queenstown Lakes District Council towards building bridges along the Wentworth section of the trail.
Wakatipu Trails Trust would provide $12,000 for a spur track to provide access from the Peregrine Wines car park, near the centre of the track, and the New Zealand Community Trust had just awarded the group $5000 for track construction.
"We still have 10 grant applications out there, which will be considered over the next few months. If they're approved, we would have all the funds we need to complete the entire trail.
"Our top priority now is to formalise the easements that are required over private land to form the track.
"We are very fortunate that Paterson Pitts volunteered to prepare the surveys, MacTodd volunteered to do the legal work and Lakes Environmental agreed to sponsor the consent fees.
"This will save us another $40,000 or so," Ms Stevens said.
The association was also fortunate to have the support of several private landowners who granted easements along their land for the trail, she said.
The first 1.5km of the trail, starting at the eastern end from the Waitiri Creek Wines car park, opened to the public in March 2007.
While the money to properly finish that section of the trail was available, the easement agreement first had to be formalised with the landowner.
Once completed, the track, which will be maintained by the Department of Conservation, will have a relatively easy trail grade without challenging mountain ascents or descents and will provide spur tracks to four wine-tasting facilities and three cafes.
Anyone wishing to make a donation can contact Susan Stevens via the QLDC website (www.qldc.govt.nz).
