Businessman Dave Henderson withdraws cycle trail opposition after cup of coffee
From reporter Debbie Jamieson:
Plans for a spectacular link in the Queenstown to Central Otago cycle trail are proceeding after a cup of coffee led to developer Dave Henderson withdrawing his opposition.
Henderson had threatened to go to the Environment Court over a resource consent allowing the trail to be built.
In March, he said it crossed land owned by his company The Cardrona Cattle Company.
“My sole purpose was to try to sort out some of the other landowners to reduce the cost of construction and create a better experience,” he said following the resolution with the Central Otago Queenstown Trails Network Trust.
The trail no longer crossed his land but would travel past the Victoria Flats Landfill.
“It’s very close to the rubbish dump, which I didn’t think was ideal, but everybody else was comfortable with it.”
He had some concerns about reverse sensitivity too – cycle trail users complaining about existing activity and development in the area – but that had been resolved, he said.
“At the end of the day we had a cup of coffee and got it sorted.”
He would be an enthusiastic user of the trail, which would link his home to a development he was working on in the area, he said.
Former Christchurch mayor Sir Bob Parker and his wife, Lady Joanna Nicholls-Parker were shareholders in The Cardrona Cattle Company until April, this year.
The Kawarau Gorge Trail is part of a $26 million project connecting five Great Rides in the region.
It will include an underground tunnel near the Nevis Bluff and follow the Kawarau River to Bannockburn where it will connect with the widely acclaimed Lake Dunstan Trail, to Clyde.
Central Otago Queenstown Trails Network Trust chairperson Stephen Jeffery said before construction could begin, the trust had to finalise some details – including creating a plan for managing lizards – for sections of the trail that passed through Department of Conservation Land.
It was hoped that approval would be in place in early 2023.
The complete 500km route will also require a route connecting Wānaka to Cromwell and the missing 13km on the Roxburgh Gorge Trail to be complete.
Jeffery said the network of trails would reinforce the profile of the region as a growing international cycling destination.
“We have already seen the outstanding success of the Lake Dunstan Trail and with the added investment into new trails the future looks particularly bright for cycling tourism in Central Otago.”
Earlier this week, the Queenstown Lakes District Council was awarded $11.8m in funding from the Government’s Transport Choices programme to progress trail improvements in the region.
It included $10.3m for an Arthurs Point to Queenstown route and $1.5m to look at more options for active travel links in Wānaka.
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