Future options for the Hokitika Gorge swing bridge remain open with the Department of Conservation (Doc).
However, the West Coast Conservation Board was told late last week, speculation about Doc taking on the bridge from the Westland District Council was still an open question.
Fresh on the heels of the shock announcement last week, when the council announced it would be closing the bridge for safety reasons from October 1, the department said it was confident it could effectively manage the overall visitor experience over the loop track and alternative bridge at the gorge.
"It's become the key visitor experience in the Hokitika district; in the last three years, the department has invested heavily."
However, the original swing bridge, a portion of the visitor carpark and a section of track leading to the bridge were on Westland District road reserve.
At the end of last year, the council requested an engineering review of the bridge, setting out "a number of actions" costing about $200,000.
But the necessary work had a tight timeline, Mr Kilgour said.
A subsequent application to the government's Tourist Infrastructure Fund by the council only got a response last week, with $150,000 confirmed.
"We're continuing to work closely with council to support them in exploring what they do with the bridge. The department is very committed in supporting the council. It is highly likely that they will need to close the first bridge for a period of time to ensure visitor safety," he said.
In the meantime, DOC was confident it could maintain the key visitor experience at the Hokitika Gorge, based on its prior experience.
The track and first viewing point before reaching the swing bridge would remain open.
Visitors would still be able to fully experience "the wonder of the entire gorge site" from the new bridge further upstream and by using the loop track, he said.
"Our experience in managing change at visitor sites is, as long as we provide a visitor experience, people arriving at the site are none the wiser of what to expect."
On the issue of fixing the old bridge, one option to be explored by the council was total replacement.
Other speculative options included Doc assuming ownership of a new structure; Doc would only be interested in taking on a new structure not an "end of life" asset.
Conservation board chairman Mike Legge said a lot of the conversation around what would happen was speculative at that point.
By Brendon McMahon
