A nationwide strain on toilets is slowing down the Southland District Council's plans to complete its controversial Around the Mountains Cycle Trail.

The Southland District Council (SDC) is close to putting the finishing touches on its $9 million Around the Mountains Cycle Trail project, but toilet infrastructure seems to be holding it up. 

Last year, the council decided to complete the Northern Southland and Queenstown cycle trail through the lowest-cost option available at $126,000. 

The so-called Centre Hill Road connection provides shelters, bathrooms, and signage along isolated, but already constructed, road. 

However, demand for toilets from the Tourism Infrastructure Fund (TIF) applications means the council will have to wait longer than usual to tie up those loose ends.

SDC group manager for services and assets Matt Russell said there was a limited number of toilet suppliers in the country. With TIF funding and applications up, those suppliers were suddenly "in hot demand".

That meant a typical six-to-eight week wait time for the toilets had been pushed out to 16 to 20 weeks.

"We're talking with contractors. We've got the shelters sitting in our yard. We're just waiting on getting the toilets and then they'll be installed."

"Given the remoteness of the location and the cost associated with getting contractors and materials into some of those locations, obviously we want to do it once and do it right.... We will of course wait until we get the materials before we get started."

However, once the Centre Hill Road connection was finished, that would be the end of the capital works on the controversial and expensive cycle trail. It would also mean the council was in a position to begin promoting the trail, Mr Russell said. 

It's been a two-and-a-half years since the cycle trail's budget, governance, and project management history were slammed in an independent report by consultancy and audit firm Deloitte.

The report's key findings highlighted the project's poorly constructed budget of $8 million, inadequate financial reporting and project management, and a failure to proactively manage risks. 

Deloitte estimated the council's original plans for the trail would have cost $14 million. 

However, SDC chief executive Steve Ruru said the total construction cost approximately $9.2 million at the moment because the council went with the cheaper Centre Hill Road option.

The council is left with a $4.6 million share of the work to be completed, which will be paid by the district ratepayers through a 30-year loan. 

Changes the council made after the report came out included improvements on its project management and governance practices. 

In the report's aftermath, a finance and audit committee was set up to improve the council's governance structures, and Mr Ruru said they were starting to see councillors asking more challenging questions. 

Just this month, the council officially brought on a capital works project delivery team and a dedicated commercial infrastructure team to oversee procurement, delivery, contract management issues in capital works programmes. 

The council was also seeking proposals from the market on establishing an internal audit programme. 

Mr Ruru said the report was a good reinforcement that things needed to change. But while the report "contributed" to the SDC's thinking, Mr Ruru said they didn't explicitly result from it.

"There's a whole bunch of stuff, which we are doing, that is consistent with those recommendations and is consistent with the improvements we've been wanting to make anyway."