Unless the Alps 2 Ocean Cycle Trail is shifted to the south side of Lake Aviemore, the Waitaki Valley town of Otematata could miss out on the economic development opportunities the Great Ride was designed to bring.
The Otematata Residents Association also held safety and aesthetic concerns about the current route on the north side of the lake.
But rerouting the trail to the south side of the lake was an ''urgent'' priority for the association, member Ross McRobie said during public hearings for the Waitaki District Council's 2018-28 long-term plan public hearings last week.
''All we're saying at Otematata is for god's sake, give us our fair share of the Alps 2 Ocean traffic by creating the trail through Otematata and down that side of the lake.''
Council recreation manager Erik van der Spek said shifting the trail to the south side of the lake would be ''considered in due course, subject to funding and an assessment of options for this section''.
But the council's current focus was on the section of the trail from Sailors Cutting to Benmore Dam in order to get cyclists off State Highway 83 and the Otematata saddle.
The trail was roughly 50% off road and he could not comment on an expected completion date.
At present, the trail went over the Otematata saddle on State Highway 83, then over Benmore Dam, and down the northern side of Lake Aviemore on the sealed Te Akatarawa Rd.
A trail linked Otematata to the Benmore Dam.
Mr McRobie said Otematata was growing and needed: a master plan to be developed, including assessing the need for more land availability for growth; beautification, including the planting of trees; a new public toilet block; an infrastructure review; and more recycling options, but the association's top priority was ensuring the town benefited in the same way the other towns in the Waitaki Valley did.
Association chairman John Munro agreed that trail users bypassing the town was a ''major worry''.
He said it would be very difficult to take the trail off the northern road and the northern shore of Lake Aviemore was the shady side.
He had granted permission for the trail to go through his property west of Otematata, which would allow it to cut through the township, but it had yet to reach him.
