Reshuffle likely for Whanganui’s Rapanui Rd Trail project after consenting hold-up

Stage two of the project begins at the Bason Botanic Gardens and runs along Rapanui Rd to Kai Iwi Beach. Photo / Mike Tweed

Work on the Rapanui Rd Trail in Whanganui remains paused, with a reshuffle of the project being considered.

A shell rock trail is planned from State Highway 3 at Ōtamatea to Kai Iwi Beach, to be completed in three stages.

The Rapanui Rd Trail Committee began stage one, from Westmere Lake to Westmere School, last August.

But work stopped almost immediately after intervention by Whanganui District Council.

In November, council roading manager Mark Allingham said the council had met the group to work through issues such as future maintenance of the trail, iwi and Horizons Regional Council engagement, and parts of the design.

Speaking to the Whanganui Rural Community Board on February 18, board member and trail committee spokesman Quentin Handley said a memorandum of understanding with the council had now been signed.

“The council will oversee the work and the trust will be the funding provider,” he said.

Horizons confirmed the need for a consent because of the trail’s proximity to the lake and wetland, and that process had begun, Handley said.

“All these things are taking a lot of time.

“In the meantime, we have plans drawn up for section two, from Bason [Botanic Gardens] to Kai Iwi Beach.”

Stage two involves about 5km of shell rock trail. Photo / Mike Tweed

That part of the trail is about 5km.

The committee had received ”quite an amount" of external funding for the project, which would expire 12 months after it was received, Handley said.

The committee employed professional fundraiser Jenny Giblin last year.

“We are now six months down the track and we are quite urgently requiring some action. Our funders are asking some questions,” he said.

“Hopefully, we’ll get some council sign-off on section two within another month or two.”

Allingham said he had not spoken directly to Handley about changing stages but the move made sense and “it would be good to get some runs on the board”.

It was great the group had found funding itself because the council would not receive any through NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi, he said.

“My staff and I are very positive towards the trail and we’re happy to continue working with them and see it progress.”

Because he had not fully inspected the stage two route, Allingham could not confirm if there would be any consenting issues relating to it.

Handley said he was confident issues in section one would be resolved, including the resource consent.

“But a lot of decisions are in the hands of other parties at this point.

“If we got the go-ahead, we could have a machine operating by the end of the week.”

The committee first presented the trail plan to the council in August 2023 and a budget of $2.4 million was included in the council’s draft long-term plan for 2024-34.

But that was cut to $500,000 to be used in 2032 to enable “community stakeholders to commence fundraising”.

Mike Tweed is a multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present his focus is local government, primarily Whanganui District Council.