The debate over the legal status of the Haast-Hollyford road line appears to have reached an impasse.
Haast Hollyford Highway Ltd, which wants to build a toll road linking the West Coast more directly with Milford Sound, insists the route follows a legal paper road.
But Land Information Minister Michael Woodhouse, in a letter to the company last week, said he considered the status of the land ''has never been clear'' and the issue would need to be settled by a court.
''A declaratory judgement would provide certainty on the status of the land and whether in fact the land is a legal road vested in the Westland District Council.''
Asked to respond to Mr Woodhouse's suggestion, company chairman Durham Havill told the Otago Daily Times this week the company was not interested in going to court.
''The precedent such a requirement would cause would result in councils around the country being required to obtain a court declaration on unformed legal road before allowing construction to begin.
''At present the councils rely on the integrity of the cadastre.''
The cadastre is the system that records the location and extent of legal parcels of land, including roads.
The company maintains the road through the rugged and remote area was ruled legal in 1974, when it was vested in the Westland council, and was removed ''illegally'' from the cadastre around 1989.
It has challenged Linz to produce evidence the road was removed legally, something it says Linz has failed to do.
Mr Havill considered letters written by the chief surveyor, O.L. Amor, in 1974, to be proof the road was legal.
Mr Amor had said the road ''would be legal under section 110A of the Public Works Act 1928''.
Mr Havill said it remained up to Linz to prove Mr Amor's decision was wrong.
''They have not been able to do that and can produce no evidence that they have even tried to.''
In his letter, Mr Woodhouse said the recording of the road in the cadastre ''will not in itself make it a legal road''.
Mr Havill agreed but noted to enable the processing of the company's application for resource consent for the toll road, the unformed legal road had to be shown on the cadastre.
Asked if the company's unwillingness to go to court signified a lack of confidence in its case, Mr Havill said it was not a matter of confidence but of common sense.
''Why would Westland and the Crown waste upwards of $500,000 and God knows how long to confirm what has already been confirmed?''