In what is being hailed as a "huge win" for the Queenstown cycle and walking trail network, resource consent has been granted for a major extension connecting Arthurs Point, Tucker Beach and Arrowtown.
Queenstown Trails Trust chief executive Mark Williams said the trail would give residents and visitors access through the Shotover Gorge — now accessible only by jet-boat — and to Tucker Beach over a new 80m-long suspension bridge.
The $8million project, which the trust sought consent for last October, will add about 18km to its 130km-plus network in the Wakatipu Basin.
Work on the trail was expected to begin this summer, Mr Williams said.
A community fundraising campaign would soon be launched for the new bridge, called the Kimi Akau Bridge.
The trust had hoped to route the trail through a 116m-long tunnel — built for a hydro-electric scheme in the 1960s — between Arthurs Point and Tucker Beach, but it withdrew that section from its application during the consent hearing.
Mr Williams said the trust was working with the Department of Conservation to get permission to use the tunnel.
Independent commissioners Bob Nixon and Jane Sinclair said the trail extension would have ‘‘significant positive effects’’.
By passing through public land by the Shotover River, it would allow greater public enjoyment of the area, more awareness and appreciation of its rich gold mining history, and provide easier access for wilding tree and pest control work.
The trail would also allow public access along Lake Hayes tributary Mill Creek, providing opportunities for weed control and native riparian planting.
Of the 239 submissions on the application, 231 were in support.
