The Red Bridge River Park Trust, which was officially registered this week, has until July 21 to make Contact Energy another offer to buy a 0.4ha property near the Luggate bridge.
The trust hopes to establish a community riverside park at the site, which project spokesman Lewis Verduyn-Cassels has leased from Contact since 1991.
After the power company rejected Mr Verduyn-Cassels' $190,000 offer to buy the property himself last month, it issued a counteroffer of $300,000 and a 60-day extension to find the funds.
Mr Verduyn-Cassels said four trustees had now been appointed and a bank account was being set up for receiving donations.
The trust did not have time to apply for grants, so would ''just have to try and talk to various individuals and the people at large and come up with as much as we can''.
There had been some indications of financial support but the trust had ''no idea'' how much would be donated.
Mr Verduyn-Cassels was still prepared to put up some of his own money, probably around $100,000 to $140,000.
If the balance could be raised, he would lease the on-site cottage - where he lives at present - from the trust and work as a caretaker for the native nursery and park under that agreement.
''I want this trust to have some long-term financial viability. Whether I'm here or not, the trust will have some income from [having a caretaker in] the cottage.
''We can do our fundamental work without relying on funding from outside agencies.''
After already carrying out two decades of native restoration work at the site, Mr Verduyn-Cassels was not prepared to walk away if the trust's fundraising efforts fell short.
''It's a very challenging financial situation. But we've come this far and we're not going away ... If we don't get there we'll find a way. We have to find a way. There's no backing down.''
It was hoped Contact would lower its price but that appeared unlikely, Mr Verduyn-Cassels said.
He also hoped the trust would receive a neighbouring 2.2ha block of land Contact plans to give to the Upper Clutha community.
Contact earlier mentioned Queenstown Lakes District Council or the Department of Conservation as potential entities to take over the land.
However, Mr Verduyn-Cassels said there were invasive species on the site which the trust was best equipped to deal with long term.
Contact's trading, development and geothermal resources project manager Neil Gillespie said yesterday the company was still working with Luggate stakeholders to determine which entity the land would be given to.
The Red Bridge
River Park Trust:
Registered: June 16, 2014
Purpose: To create and manage a river park and native recovery centre on riverside land at the Luggate Red Bridge, on the Clutha Mata-Au River, for the benefit of the community in perpetuity
Trustees: Benjamin Yates (safety officer); Jeromy van Riel (education officer); Matthew Sole (heritage officer); Lewis Verduyn-Cassels (caretaker/riverkeeper)
