A plan to build a West Coast road through the Hollyford Valley is in jeopardy because the legal status of the route no longer exists.
Backers of a plan to build the highway say a paper road, which has supposedly been on the land information books since the 1880s, appears to have been removed in the mid-1970s.
Haast Hollyford Highway Ltd chairman Durham Havill said the road was transferred to Westland County Council in the early 1970s but it disappeared after 1976 without any apparent legal authority.
Mr Havill said he would have to go to the High Court to obtain a ruling about the legality of the road, and the Crown should pay his legal costs, which were more than $300,000 to date.
Land Information New Zealand said a court would have to establish whether the road existed.
The legality of the paper road had always been in question, and a court ruling would have to be sought.
