Walking track at Millbrook West the ‘missing link’

Media Release from Millbrook West
April 16 2008

Walking track at Millbrook West the ‘missing link’

A 3.1km stretch of walking track meandering through the grounds of Queenstown’s premier five-star Millbrook resort will provide a key ‘missing link’ for the historic Wakatipu Trail.

The developers of Millbrook West, a half billion dollar 200-home golf course and residential development, have finalised details of a walking trail to link the Wakatipu Trails Trust network connecting Queenstown and Arrowtown.

Entry to the Millbrook section of the track will be at the resort’s southern boundary, from which point it will cross between the third and fourth and seventh and eighth holes of the new Coronet Nine golf course.

From there the track will cross Mill Stream and meander along the waterway through copses of trees, including some sections of boardwalk through wetland areas. Passing by new homes at Streamside, it will then run alongside the existing Avenue entrance road and skirt behind the new Driving Range before re-joining tracks at Butel Park and Manse Road.

“It will be a pretty spectacular section of track, starting off overlooking Lake Hayes and working its way through some beautiful areas of Millbrook land,” said Millbrook Property Development Manager Ben O’Malley.

“We embraced the QLDC’s walking track proposal very early on in our design phase and so were able to integrate it into our master planning. This allowed us to position the track to maximize the walkers’ experience at the same time as protecting our residents’ privacy,” he said.

“More than 95% of Millbrook West is open or green space.”

The track will link to the north with the recently completed and popular Lake Hayes Loop track. The Millbrook via Lake Hayes return trip will be approximately 18kms, which is an easy half day walk or an excellent mountain bike training ride.

“This is a win-win solution that’s come about as part of a stakeholder’s deed between Millbrook and the QLDC, following a land swap deal whereby Millbrook took over two pieces of landlocked reserve and council obtained the Millbrook Sports Reserve on the Arrowtown corner.”

Mr O’Malley predicted keen walkers would be using the track by November this year.

“We know from our own members that they’re really looking forward to using the track. Millbrook even has its own walkers group where up to 20 members get out and about on a regular basis.”

Wakatipu Trails Trust Chief Executive Officer Renee Bowman said the iconic Wakatipu Trail had been a priority for the Trust since its existence.

“The trail through Millbrook is a vital link and the Trust is really excited that it will be open to the public before the end of this year,” she said.

“An extraordinary amount of time, effort and teamwork goes into creating a public trail such as this. When the final product comes to fruition all that hard work certainly warrants an official opening celebration.”

The Trust anticipates that locals and tourists will use the new trail through Millbrook on a regular basis to walk and cycle between Arrowtown and Lake Hayes, Ms Bowman said.

In the coming year the Trust will also work towards securing the link between Lake Hayes and Frankton which will provide huge benefits to Quail Rise and Lake Hayes Estate residents.

ENDS

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