Getting the paperwork sorted

The stops are being pulled to move forward discussions with adjoining landowners and leaseholders on the rail corridor and tidy up the paperwork in preparation for a construction start on the coast-to-coast cycle trail in the Far North.


Following confirmation this month of a government grant of up to $4 million to help fund infrastructural work on the Horeke-Kawakawa section of the trail, the detailed planning has been accelerated.


This includes work on the preparation of a construction schedule with detailed cost estimates for each component of the project, the establishment of an operational structure and the development of branding and marketing policies.


"We are hoping to be in a position to start installing the first sections of the trail within the next few months. At this stage the intention is to use local contractors where appropriate and to capitalise on government assisted work schemes and local community support to keep construction costs to a minimum," General Manager for Infrastructure and Asset Management David Penny said today.


"We have already had a number of inquiries regarding construction work. But until the paperwork has been completed, we will not be in a position to seek suppliers for aspects of the programme where formal contracts may be required," he said.


"The more economies we can make, the further we will be able to stretch the cycle trail with the funding currently available," he said.


At this stage the government funding excluded the cycleway link between Kawakawa and Opua. Alternate funding sources were being investigated to enable an ongoing construction programme which achieved the prime objective- a coast-to-coast trail through the mid-north from the Hokianga Harbour in the west to the Bay of Islands in the east.


"Our first priority is to utilise the funding we do have to enable the trail to be developed for as great a length as is possible. The sooner we can get the trail operational, even if initially only in smaller sections, the better it will be for all concerned," he said.


"In the meantime we need to find out exactly how far the existing funding will take us and this means completing construction planning and preparing detailed costings," he said.