Ministry seals deal on Hauraki Rail Trail improvements

Several problem sections of the Hauraki Rail Trail will be sealed following a successful funding application to Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE).

One of 12 recipients of the sixth round of MBIE’s Maintaining the Quality of Great Rides Fund, the Hauraki Rail Trail Charitable Trust (the Trust) has received $44,963 towards sealing a 3.5km section of the Trail between Kopu and Totara, and $32,794 to address a number of problem areas in the Karangahake Gorge.

Thames-Coromandel District Council has agreed to match the Ministry’s contribution towards the Kopu to Totara section of the Trail, covering the extra $44,963 needed to complete the $89,926 project.
And Hauraki District Council has agreed to match MBIE's contribution of $32,794 for the work in the Karangahake Gorge.

Hauraki Rail Trail General Manager Diane Drummond is thrilled the Trust has received all the Ministry funding it asked for on this occasion.

“Sealing the Kopu to Totara section of the Trail will help draw more people from the Trail into Thames and also make it more user-friendly for some of our nearby senior population,” she says.

The remaining $32,794 from MBIE will help cover repair work on parts of the Karangahake Gorge section of the Trail damaged by flood waters during the March/April weather events this year.

The Maintaining the Quality of Great Rides Fund helps refine, improve and maintain completed sections of the Great Rides of Nga Haerenga, the New Zealand Cycle Trail.

Visit the Hauraki Rail Trail website for more information on the cycleway.

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