Trail-blazing plan for Queenstown
Queenstown Trials has unveiled its plans to grow and enhance its network of green corridors across the Whakatipu over the next 10 years.
The trust's CEO Mark Williams, who outlines the vision in this week's Lakes Weekly Bulletin editorial, says the aim is for everyone to be able to hop on a trail close to their home and cycle, run or walk to anywhere in the basin.
Work is currently underway on the $6 million trail expansion project between Tucker Beach, Arthurs Point and Arrowtown, which will complete the missing link in the Whakatipu basin, and connect to the MTB trails around Coronet Peak and Mahu Whenua.
Long term aspirations include a 35km trail from Queenstown to Glenorchy, and eventually around Lake Whakatipu, as well as regional links to Central Otago, Kingston and Te Anau, bringing huge environmental, tourism and wellbeing benefits.
There's also the joint project with the Lightfoot Initiative and Waka Kotahi for a 3km active transport route, crossing State Highway 6 between Quail Rise and Glenda Drive over Jim's Way bridge, and lobbying for a trail from Jack's Point into Frankton.
But the strategic plan is more than just a map of where trails might go - it focuses on the partnerships and collaborations with other trusts, iwi, volunteer groups, DoC, landowners, and council, particularly for conservation.
Williams says the Arrow River Trail, from Arrowtown to Morven Ferry Road, is a classic example.
"There's some amazing replanting that the Wakatipu Reforestation Trust has done there at Whitechapel," he says.
"It was just a waste land, full of rabbits and rank grasses, and those guys have gone in there, planted and rabbit-proofed it all, and then it's amazing. Give it another five years, and you'll be riding through native forest.
"That's the kind of restoration we see, when the trails are established, and suddenly they become these incredible environments, where you're riding through this beautiful canopy, and the birds are singing, and that 'deafening dawn chorus' from council's Vision 2050, starts to become a reality."
A group of locals came up with the idea for a trails network back in 2002, and formed the Wakatipu Trails Trust to deliver it. It received a major boost in 2009 when then Prime Minister John Key announced a multi-million-dollar cycle way fund for Ngā Haerenga, the NZ Cycle Trail.
In 2012, the first Queenstown Trails Great Ride was officially opened, with 120km of off-road trails connecting Queenstown to Gibbston via Frankton, Arrowtown and Jack’s Point.
There's now more than 200km of trails across Queenstown, including commuter, flow, single track and backcountry trails. They're used by more than 275,000 people each year, with a 50/50 split between runners / walkers and cyclists.
A good number of those users are visitors and economist Benje Patterson estimates that by 2030, biking could contribute $210 million per year to the Queenstown Lakes economy. That's roughly half of what its celebrated ski industry provides per annum.
And they provide a boost for the locals using them, whether to go for a walk, commute on an e-bike, ride out to the wineries in Gibbston, or take on more challenging uphill, downhill and backcountry rides and runs at the weekend.
"It's amazing the number of people who will ride to work and then go and have a ride on their lunchbreak," Williams says.
"Using active modes of transport means we're reducing congestion and reliance on private cars, and it's also really good for your mind. You get the blood flowing, become more productive.
"In Queenstown, we're quite a healthy bunch anyway, but staying fit and keeping active reduces that extra burden an unhealthy population puts on the health system."
The plan also focuses on technology, including route planning and charging stations in remote locations for e-bikes, with multi-day and backcountry single track adventures available to locals and tourists alike.
To learn more about ‘The Next Ten Years of Queenstown Trails’ and support the work they do, visit www.queenstowntrails.org.nz/strat-plan
