An investment of $425,000 over three years in the Alps2Ocean cycle trail is being planned by the Waitaki District Council.
The money will provide start-up funds for the trail, which will also be covered by shares the council will hold in a company established to set it up.
The council has approved the funding in its draft 2012-22 long-term community plan, starting with $125,000 next financial year, $175,000 in 2013-14 and $125,000 in 2014-15. The proposal is open to public comment before a final plan is approved in June.
Partner in the trail, the Mackenzie District Council, is also expected to make the same contribution, which will be added to a Government grant last year of $2.75 million for the 314km trail from Mt Cook through the Waitaki and Waiareka Valleys to Oamaru.
The Government grant was specifically to construct the trail, not for other uses such as marketing and maintenance.
The council is proposing to fund it as a cycleway through its roading rate, which would be paid for by the whole district.
However, that prompted Cr Cathy Dennison, who represents the southern Waihemo ward, to question whether those who would benefit from the cycleway should pay for it.
Council chief executive Michael Ross said the money needed to be invested to create revenue if the two councils were not to be faced with picking up all the costs in the future.
Waitaki council community services group manager Thunes Cloete said the setting up of the company to own, manage, market and maintain the track was progressing at a slower pace than initially planned.
A major stumbling block had been start-up funds.
Various sources of funding, other than the two councils' ratepayers, had been investigated with no luck.
The building of the track had already started and the company, Alps2Ocean Ltd, had to make progress to retain a business edge on competitors. That included work on a booking system, marketing, trail maintenance and setting up a business to create income before the trail was completed.
With no funding from other sources, it was decided to ask the shareholders - the Waitaki and Mackenzie councils - to invest the money.
That would be crucial for Alps2Ocean Ltd to start up and reach a point where it would generate income and lessen the impact on ratepayers.
