The Roxburgh Gorge, looking towards Alexandra from Flat Top
Hill. Photo by Barrie Wills.
The land-access battle surrounding the Roxburgh Gorge
cycle trail may soon be over.
Roxburgh Gorge Trail Charitable Trust chairman Stephen
Jeffery said the organisation was considering alternative
options "should we fail to get easement agreements over the
entire proposed route".
He said the easiest of these options would be to find a
commercial operator to take the cyclists over Lake Roxburgh
by boat, while another option being considered was using a
section of marginal strip, yet to be determined, that ran
around the lake.
Roxburgh and District Community Plan Trust chairman Rod
Lambert said: "The great majority of people we talk to are
strongly in favour of the trail ...
there was huge support for it at the Teviot Valley Community
Planning workshop last Saturday."
Opinion from landowners, however, is much less favourable.
Jack Miller, of Shingle Creek, said he understood no
landowner over the entire proposed route of the trail had
signed an agreement with the trust giving access to their
land.
"We will not allow access through our land. If they offered
us compensation, which we would have liked, that won't fix it
now ... they want us to give them our land for nothing so
they can turn it into a trail but we will still have to pay
rates on that land."
Mr Miller's sister Devon said the trail would have a negative
impact on farm property.
"There are lots of issues, including insurance, people
wandering off the tracks, dogs and people shooting. The trail
will not be regulated, so we would be opening up our land to
potential problems.
"We also have concerns over the overall viability of the
trail and maintenance costs.
"We don't think it is fair that they are talking about
starting to build on the basis that they will get agreement
from landholders in the future."
Mr Jeffery said the first 10km of the trail, on marginal
strip land (at the Alexandra end) was ready for construction,
which could begin "as soon as we get the sign-off from Linz".
Leigh Johnston, a landowner in Alexandra, said the trail
would wreck the environment.
"They want it here because it is so beautiful, but the trail
will wreck that and once it is gone, we won't get it back."
Her husband, Bruce Johnston, said: "We never said they
couldn't go through our land, but we had some concerns and
conditions.
"Then we got a letter to say they had opted to use the
marginal strip instead."
- sarah.marquet@odt.co.nz
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