06-05-2025
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
Desire to push trail project forward
Dunedin's tunnels trail doesn't need to be a ''Rolls-Royce'', it just needs to be done, the city council had been told.
Trails featured heavily on the second day of the Dunedin City Council's long-term plan hearings as submitters asked the council to invest for the future.
Dunedin Tunnels Trail Trust chairman Brent Irving said the council needed to return management of the project to the community, who would ''get on with the job''.
Earlier this year, the council removed $22.4m from its draft nine-year plan, earmarked for the Dunedin Tunnel Trails project, which would have linked the central city to the wider Otago cycle network.
At the time, Mayor Jules Radich said the cut was part of a $272m cost-saving exercise over the next nine years to reduce pressure on rates.
Mr Irving said with the council and NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi funding pulled, it was ''clear'' changes were needed to continue the project's momentum.
''It's time for the DCC to agree to empower and support the community, including the trust, to look at delivering the project differently,'' he said.
The trust turned 20 this year and the project had about $1.8m of council funds from the 2024-25 financial year left over, planned to progress the first stage of the build.
''We just want an answer one way or another - if there's no more funding, above the money that's left, we're going to go out and raise it and get on with the job.''
A community-led trail build, with support from the city and regional councils, would only have to match the quality of similar projects throughout the region.
If the community were able to get the trail from Caversham to Green Island, they would be able to leverage the progress for more funding, he said.
''We don't need a Rolls-Royce; we just need a really good trail.
''We soon will have a tourist trail from Queenstown to Waihola - this is powerful,'' Mr Irving said.
''Do we want to bring these people through to Dunedin or do we want them to get straight on a plane?''
The trust was investigating Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment funding and public-private partnerships to complete the trail.
''Our community has the right people, the necessary skills, the capital and the vision to open this trail from suburb to suburb eventually connecting the entire route provided there is a clear plan and timeframe to which we can finally deliver an outcome,'' Mr Irving said.
The hearings continue tomorrow.
