Now used by visitors to the conservation park, the Ahuriri Community Board has recommended Birchwood Rd not be maintained past the last property paying rates to the Waitaki council.
The department does not pay rates, meaning Birchwood Rd maintenance will stop about 6km from the Birchwood Homestead.
The National Heritage Fund bought the 23,783ha Birchwood property to form a major part of the conservation park, opened in March 2005.
The council's roading assets manager, Geoff Young, said yesterday that, as a result of the board's recommendation and discussions with the neighbouring Ben Avon Station, maintenance had stopped on the road beyond the Ben Avon lagoons.
He emphasised this was an interim measure pending discussions between the council and department and a decision from the council's review of its roading network policy.
Birchwood Rd as far as the Birchwood homestead received regular maintenance by grading and repairs after damage, particularly from flooding when streams washed debris across it.
The road was "high maintenance" because of the number of vehicles now using it to access Birchwood and the conservation park and because there was a lot of scouring during rain.
"There is a high cost of repairs every time it rains because of the number of creeks and streams which wash gravel and stones across the road," he said.
Mr Young said the 6km to the Birchwood Homestead would now be maintained as four-wheel-drive and emergency access.
"We will not be putting the same amount of effort into [maintaining] it," he said.
However, at present, it was negotiable by car with care over some patches.
Apart from its existing attraction, the department has major plans to develop the Birchwood Station homestead in the Ahuriri Valley to make it a focal point for the Ahuriri Conservation Park.
