The country's Great Rides attract about a million cyclists and walkers each year. File photo. Photo: RNZ / Chris Bramwell
Maintenance funding for the country's 'Great Rides' trails will need to double in the next decade, or some will degrade so much they will lose that status.
The trails generate just under $1b annually in benefits to regional economies, drawing about a million cyclists and walkers each year.
The government puts $8m a year towards the trails through the International Visitor and Conservation Levy, with contributions totalling $129m since 2009. Councils have co-invested at least $60m into the rides in that time.
But an Official Information Act response from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, released to RNZ, shows an estimated $160 million will be needed to maintain and enhance the Great Rides over the next 10 years.
Per year, it is double the amount currently allocated for the network.
"Without additional funding, there is a risk the Great Rides will gradually decline over time, potentially resulting in the removal of Great Ride status from some underperforming trails," the briefing to Tourism Minister Louise Upston says.
NZ Cycle Journeys runs cycle hire and luggage transfer services across five of the trails and owner Geoff Gabites told Nine to Noon the trails were "perfectly usable" at the moment, but would need resurfacing soon - the maintenance largely done by local councils, with three trails covered by the Department of Conservation (DOC).
He compared that to the 'Great Walks' tramping tracks fully managed by DOC - which owns and manages the huts, thereby collecting an income stream.
"On the [Great Rides] trails, there is no mechanism whereby riders themselves can be levied or generate money for the trusts or councils that own the trails," Gabites said.
When set up in 2009 under the John Key government, the Great Rides were intended to eventually become self-funding, but the OIA response showed this "has not eventuated as the economic benefits have not flowed back to the trails to allow them to maintain and grow to be a world-class asset".
There are no direct revenue-gathering options for the trusts that operate the trails.
The problem is exacerbated by trails that have been impacted by severe weather, like the Great Taste Trail in Nelson which will need rebuilding following the recent Tasman floods.
"It's that sort of siphoning of money out of the $8m which the government currently fund per annum which is I think causing a significant decline in the ongoing funding available for maintenance," Gabites said.
He said given the benefits, it should be on the government to support the maintenance of the trails.
"It's hard to actually find a government initiative that has delivered that sort of degree of return, and so you would have to be saying to the government 'this is your investment, and it's really going to be upon you, I believe, to maintain and protect that investment'."
They were considerably cheaper than urban-based cycleways to maintain, he said.
"In terms of numbers, 48 percent of the riders travel specifically to ride these trails so they're not just 'happen to be there and then go and and do something', it's actually a driver into the region... the $8m that have been granted is the same degree of funding that was in place from, I think, 2018."
The government has launched a "programme refresh to respond to this funding pressure", and also has a "full impact evaluation" for the 2024/25 fiscal year under way, scheduled for completion in September.
Gabites said tourism operators benefiting from the trail where also were aware they should contribute, and that was being done on a voluntary basis - but it was currently the only way those operators were helping fund the trails.
"So Cycle Journeys has had a luggage levy of 15 percent in there, and we've donated something like $126,000 over the last four years - but when the trail maintenance numbers are as high as they are, that's not sufficient to stay ahead of the game."
Part of the problem was the lack of any way to charge the users of the trails, and the government's contracts with councils - many of which had a low rating base - left ratepayers to fund the maintenance.
"There's multiple entry/exit points, so it's it's just never been set up to do this - and also legislatively as well, there's no mechanism," Gabites said.
The MBIE briefing notes the government is exploring differential funding from councils "based on a local government deprivation index similar to that used by the New Zealand Transport Agency to fund roads".
James Bell from ski and bike hireage company TCB Ohakune is heavily involved in the town's business community and said everyone including DOC and iwi seemed to be "pitching in where they can and where is necessary", but the trails themselves needed to be completed to make the whole system run smoother.
"The biggest challenge right now - and this might sound a bit harsh - is we're currently driving a three-wheeled cart, because that cart isn't complete and therefore working on maintaining a three-wheeled cart is a lot tougher. Makes more sense, at least, for our community, to add that fourth wheel."
As an example, many of the trails have been at least partly on-road since the scheme was launched, and the MBIE briefing notes that a $7.9m bid to have 120km of the Alps 2 Ocean ride shifted to off-road was rejected.
Bell said there were also other ways to get the maintenance done, like new levies or commissions or through concession agreements.
Minister Upston in a statement to RNZ said she was aware of the maintenance issues and cost pressures.
"An ongoing challenge is how to generate revenue to reinvest into the trails to ensure they continue to offer a world-class experience. MBIE is currently working with sector partners to refresh the broader Great Rides programme. I'm committed to finding solutions to ensure the future of the Great Rides for Kiwis and international visitors alike," she said.
The government has also confirmed plans to spend $3m on adding e-bike charging stations to the trails, with a second round of funding launched in June - however the MBIE briefing noted there was a "low level of support for installing e-charging stations" from stakeholders.
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