The proposed Lake Dunstan Trail will pass through the Cromwell Gorge from Cromwell to Clyde on the opposite side of the lake from State Highway 8. Its construction will involve major earthworks and the construction of retaining walls and bridges.
The trail will be part of the $26 million New Zealand Cycle Trail Project to build 536km of trails connecting Cromwell to Clyde and the Otago Central Rail Trail and connecting Queenstown via the Kawarau Gorge Trail, in addition to connecting Wanaka.
The Central Otago Queenstown Trail Network Trust has lodged an application with the Central Otago District Council asking for land-use consent to build the trail between Cromwell and Clyde.
The application was notified this week, and public submissions close on June 8.
Trust chairman Stephen Jeffery could not be contacted yesterday, but the 38-page application, lodged by surveying and planning company Southern Land, outlines the proposed work and predicted benefits and adverse effects.
The application says development of the trail is widely supported by the wider community and is projected to deliver significantly increased levels of economic activity to local communities, together with increased health and wellbeing resulting from a more active community.
The trail would be a dedicated cycling and walking trail and there would be no vehicle access other than for maintenance. Some sections would cross an area classified as "rural resource area with an outstanding natural landscape and area of significant natural value overlay".
The true right of Lake Dunstan was "very barren and sun baked", and extensive pastoral farming was done on both sides of the lake, the application said.
