Councillors voted to stop plans to build a gravity-based flyride after construction costs escalated from $2.5m to $6m since the project was conceived in 2019.
The idea of building a flying fox-style ride through Conical Hill Reserve faced opposition from residents worried about its visual impact.
''This has been a long-held dream for Hanmer and the district as a whole," she said.
''It still has the potential to have a strong economic outcome but given the economic climate and the vulnerability we are in [with local government reform], council needs to pause and respond to that reality responsibly.''
The council received $2 million from the government's Shovel Ready fund in 2020 before being granted a resource consent by an independent hearings commissioner to operate the flyride on the western face of Conical Hill Reserve. The decision was appealed to the Environment Court before being approved in December 2024.
Mayor Black said the council's decision would provide clarity for the community.
Council chief executive Hamish Dobbie said there had been "significant delays" through the Environment Court process and costs had escalated.
''There have been cost escalations right through the project, particularly in the building costs, and over the last five or six years the technology has changed.''
He said the project would ''still make a positive return, though not as positive as it was''.
The resource consent was valid for five years from when it was granted in December 2024, meaning a private developer could still pick up the project, he said.
Following its decision, the council will likely need to return the remaining $900,000 of Shovel Ready funding to the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment.
- LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
