The Lawrence to Waihola cycle trail feasibility study working group chairman Mark Patterson said he was ''pretty optimistic, or as optimistic as you can be'' about the prospects for the roughly 55km trail that would link the end of the Clutha Gold Trail at Lawrence to the lakeside town at the northern edge of the Clutha district boundary.
Every one of the Lawrence area landowners the working group had contacted was at least open to a conversation about the idea, which was a positive sign, Mr Patterson said.
''For the landowners, there's actually not anything in it. They're making a gift to the community and with it some inconvenience to themselves,'' Mr Patterson said.
''It's for the good of the wider community, but it is a big commitment to make. It speaks to a bit of an old school community value that they are prepared to do that.''
Mr Patterson, of Lawrence, who has a sheep and beef operation at Waitahuna that the cycle trail route provisionally runs through, said the feasibility study was at the moment focused on Lawrence area landowners for a reason.
''The most difficult part of the process will be getting through the Manuka Gorge, because there's not that many options there - we have to have those pieces of the jig saw puzzle pulled together first, before we can have any confidence that we can pull it off.''
The working group was formed in June after community meetings at Waitahuna and Milton. The eight strong group is made up of members of the communities along the potential route, including Murray Paterson, a principal driver of the Clutha Gold Trail, linking Lawrence to Roxburgh.
Establishing that route had shown that using the old rail corridor could be an imposition on those who used the land, Mr Patterson said.
''The rail corridor, in particular, on most properties, has evolved into being a laneway for stock - they tend to be quite well utilised parts of their farming operations, so to consider giving easement, and potentially having some inconvenience to their day to day farming operation ... to think that farmers are prepared to actually engage with the process given the scale of the request that's been made of them has been positive.''
He said the initial reaction from the community had been ''exceptional''.
Clutha Development chief executive Linda Moore said the process would be ''slow and thorough''. The $50,000 raised by Clutha Development to launch the project was donated by community groups such as the Milton Rotary Club, the Lawrence Lions Club and the Lawrence Tuapeka Community Company, and from members of the community.
It had been used to hire Eion Mills, of Waihola, as the feasibility study's project manager. There were many who believed a ''a great big loop'' from Queenstown to Dunedin and then back via Middlemarch would be a significant tourist attraction, Mr Patterson said. But it was important not to look too far down the track.
''It's all part of this wider scheme, but we can't get carried away with that. We've just got to do our little bit and see how it plays out.''
