New Southland and Fiordland cycleways on Department of Conservation (DOC) land may have to wait many more years, despite similar cycle tracks now being considered for Otago.

The Otago Conservation Management Strategy (CMS) partial review which became operative on 1 July opened up an extra 112 parcels of public conservation land in Otago to be considered by DOC for bicycle track proposals.

Fiordland Trials Trust chair, John Greaney, hopes that the Southland CMS will follow the Otago CMS example.

“We are currently going through a resource consent for the section of the Te Anau to Te Anau Downs track. We are awaiting the decision, due on 13 July, on building the section of the track between the Upukerora River and Sinclair Road, which goes through public conservation land. The last 11km of the proposed track, from Sinclair Road to Te Anau Downs crosses Fiordland National Park, where cycling is currently not allowed,” he said.

The Fiordland Trials Trust has been lobbying DOC for over a decade regarding allowing the Te Anau/Manapouri cycle/walking track to go through the 4km section of the Fiordland National Park between Balloon Loop and Supply Bay on the east bank of the Waiau River.

While the impetus for the Otago review came from the Otago Conservation Board, the Southland Conservation Board (SCB) isn't planning to follow suit.

SCB chairperson, Shona Sangster of Stewart Island said that at this stage they had no intention to pursue a partial review of the CMS but would rather wait for the nation-wide review DOC is currently preparing for.

Conservation Boards act as the community’s voice in conservation management for their region and play a key role in the development and implementation of their regional CMS. 

DOC Director of Operations Aaron Fleming said they were looking at partial reviews of all CMS, including Southland Murihiku, to allow for new biking opportunities to be considered. However this would not include biking in Fiordland National Park until the review of the Fiordland National Park Management Plan was complete, which is, according to Fleming “on the work programme but at this stage there is no agreed timeframe for the review to commence”.

“The Department does not yet have a timeframe for completion of the partial review process for all CMS”, Fleming said. 

CMS are approved by the New Zealand Conservation Authority (NZCA) under the Conservation Act and provide direction for the management of public conservation land, waters, and species for which the DOC has responsibility.

The Otago CMS was approved in 2016, listing where bicycle trails were allowed on public conservation land (PCL) in the region, but this was however mostly a list of existing trails.

By 2019 DOC was receiving multiple new proposals to construct cycleways and bicycle tracks on PCL not listed in the Otago CMS, meaning the proposals could not be formally considered.

DOC Statutory Manager, John Roberts said “The partial review was undertaken because the Otago CMS did not reflect the increased public interest in expanding mountain biking or the opportunities for this activity.”

The partial review of the Otago CMS took a further two years to complete.