The creation of a “destination cycleway” in the Whakatāne district is one step closer.

Whakatāne district councillors approved the signing of an agreement with the Bay of Plenty Regional Council that will put responsibility for the maintenance of planned new cycleways along stopbanks in district council hands.

This will allow Whakatāne District Council to advance its long-term vision to establish a connected cycleway network across the district. Four of the proposed trails will use regional council-managed assets. These include a two-kilometre cycleway from Awatapu Lagoon to Trident High School, a 2km Kopeopeo Canal cycleway from Shaw Road to Keepa Road, a Rangitaiki River cycleway from Edgecumbe to Thornton and a Rangitāiki Plain cycleway from Whakatāne to Awakeri.

Work is starting on two of these trails, the Whakatāne to Awakeri trail behind the Whakatāne Mill and the Edgecumbe to Thornton trail, thanks to external funding.

The agreement would require an annual cycleway maintenance budget of about $45,000 a year for the maintenance of all four trails.

Whakatāne District Council tourism and events manager Nicola Burgess said estimates were based on similar types of trails in the Hawkes Bay, which were $2000 a kilometre per year.

Mayor Victor Luca expressed concern to Mrs Burgess that the council might be building something that may end up not getting used.

“What makes us believe that they will be used, or are we taking a ‘let’s build it and they will come’ approach,” he asked.

Mrs Burgess said there had been an assessment done to identify options of what would be most useful to the community.

“For instance, in terms of the Edgecumbe Community Plan, an Edgecumbe to Thornton cycleway has been top on their wish list for 15 years. I know other rural areas have had them as part of their wish lists.”

She said a trail to Paroa Road would allow Paroa and Poroporo residents to safely get their children to school.

Strategy and transformation general manager Steve Perdia said in his experience cycleways were used most when they were all connected.

“We’re at the very beginning of this. What we’re doing is building pieces, but it’s once they all start connecting together and people can experience loops and go on different journeys that’s when they really start humming. That’s what you see in the South Island on some of their connected loops and also in the Napier Experience and the Hauraki Experience.”

Chief executive Steph O’Sullivan said the trails would not only create health and recreational opportunities for locals, but also bring in tourism and secondary business opportunities adjacent to the trails such as cafes and bed and breakfast accommodation.

Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air.