Proponents of the $11 million Around the Mountains Trail received a resource consent setback this week, but the Southland District Council is planning to begin construction anyway.
Independent hearing commissioner Denis Nugent, of Wanaka, declined consent for a section from the Mount Nicholas Rd bridge to, and including, the proposed Oreti suspension bridge, because of significant adverse effects on the environment, but the council still wanted to start work on the Mossburn-Lumsden to Kingston section of the trail by December, councillor John Douglas said.
The declined section through the Eyre Mountains, from Mavora to West Dome, comprises 28km of the 175km trail, but Mr Douglas, who represents the Five Rivers area, said he and other councillors had met engineers and financial experts yesterday and decided money was best spent starting the project rather than appealing the decision.
The appeal process was expensive and time-consuming, and the money would be better spent on building consents for the bridges and structures, which they had applied for.
"We discussed our appetite for an appeal and decided we are better to concentrate on construction."
Construction tenders were now open and it was up to local and larger companies to apply.
The council had reached an agreement in principle with landowners and there was still some paperwork to do before construction would begin.
With a tourism consultant, the council would look at the economic impact of the newest option for the trail, which would run alongside the Mararoa River rather than the Oreti River as planned. If this was legitimate, the council would then give the new route some serious consideration, he said.
"We have decided that this trail is important enough to Southland ratepayers and residents that instead of building the section through Mavora first and then moving on to the Mossburn-Lumsden to Kingston section, we will reverse that."
Government funding of $4 million will be spent on the first section to be built and should cover the work from Lumsden to Kingston.
Mr Douglas said the remainder of the money would be funded through "various agencies".
