Tourism and Hospitality Minister Louise Upston announced $1.6m would go towards the repair of the Great Taste Trail. Photo: RNZ / Samantha Gee
Those behind Tasman's Great Taste Trail want people to know the cycle trail and the businesses surrounding it are ready for visitors, despite parts of the trail being damaged in mid-winter floods.
A $1.6 million government funding boost announced today means the majority of the storm-damaged cycle trail will be repaired by December.
The 200km trail suffered more than $2m in damage caused by flooding and slips during June and July, with parts of it completely washed out.
The Wai-iti River after flooding in the Tasman region in June 2025. Photo: Samantha Gee / RNZ
On a visit to the Tasman District today, Minister for Tourism and Hospitality Louise Upston announced $1.6m to repair the damaged sections, replace infrastructure and create alternative routes where the trail had been lost into nearby rivers.
Nelson Tasman Cycle Trails Trust chair Gillian Wratt said a number of tourism and hospitality businesses had been affected by the trail's closure since the winter storms.
"It was heartbreaking when it happened, because the trail was in really good condition."
She said the funding injection would cover some of the repair work that had already been done, along with further infrastructure repairs, but it did not cover repairs to the section of trail that ran along the Wai-iti river, which had been fully wiped out in places.
Nelson Tasman Cycle Trails Trust chair Gillian Wratt with Tourism Minister Louise Upston on the Great Taste Trail. Photo: RNZ / Samantha Gee
Wratt said trust was still considering the options, with a view to ensuring it would be more resilient in future storms and planned to put forward a request for further funding once it had finalised the options, with the government indicating there would be further financial support for that work.
An on-road detour for the damaged Wai-iti section would soon be available for cyclists between Wakefield and Belgrove along Eighty Eight Valley Road and the soon-to-be-reopened Quail Valley Road.
"In a way, it's fortunate that it has been over the winter so it's not peak time for the businesses, but it's certainly impacted on them anyway because you know locals get out on the trail year round."
Economic analysis in 2022 showed the trail brought $34m in direct economic benefit to the region through visitor spending, with an estimated 200,000 people using the trail each year.
Wratt said they wanted residents and visitors to know they were able to get out and ride most of the trail.
"The trail's still open, you can ride 85 percent of it, and by Christmas for the summer, we're hopeful that we'll have a complete loop back up and rideable again."
Tasman mayor Tim King said the damage to the trail between Wakefield and Belgrove was "unimaginable".
"It's not that the cycle trail or the bridge has gone, the land that it was on has completely disappeared and in many cases that was private individuals' properties...as well as the location of the cycle trail."
He said one of the areas most affected near the Wai-iti River included land owned by the Lines family.
"Unfortunately that was also the location where Peter Lines lost his life in the aftermath of the event, so in putting back that section of trail, whether it's in that location or another one, I think it would be really nice to recognise the fact that those property owners over the last decade have played their part in locating the trail in that beautiful space along the Wai-iti River."
Wheelie Fantastic Cycle Tours co-owner Nicky McBride estimated that business had been down by 35 percent following the storms.
Wheelie Fantastic Cycle Tours co-owner Nicky McBride. Photo: RNZ / Samantha Gee
The Māpua-based business mainly catered to international tourists, most of whom were from the United States, and it offered a mix of day and multi-day cycling tours on the Great Taste Trail and surrounding areas.
McBride said while some parts of the trail had been devastated, others were unscathed, and people were still able to do multi-day tours, just not currently the full loop.
She was keen to get the message out that the trail and the region were open for business and ready to welcome visitors.
"The news coming out of Nelson Tasman at the moment is not very positive, and yet when you're standing on the ground, it has a lot to give.
"It's just making sure [customers] know that we're open for business and they will have exactly the same experience that they would have had any other year."
Minister Upston said the Great Taste Trail was an important tourism asset for the region, and it was "a bit of a no-brainer" to ensure there was funding for urgent repair work so it could reopen for the summer season.
Nelson Tasman Cycle Trails Trust chair Gillian Wratt with Tourism Minister Louise Upston. Photo: RNZ / Samantha Gee
She said ensuring the country's cycle trails were resilient to storms and bad weather was an ongoing challenge.
"If we want to have access to some of the stunning locations that the Great Rides traverse, that will always be a risk...which is why there is a resilience fund available for significant weather events because we know that will be an ongoing challenge."
Upston said she had ridden part of the trail with her family on a previous visit, and she planned to spend her summer holiday here, in part to support the region during its recovery.
"I love our backyard, we have the best country in the world, and I love being a tourist here."
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