New West Coast rail trip, port upgrades, to be investigated
Friday, 20 July 2018
Moves to establish a scenic West Coast rail trip have been welcomed as a potential major boost to the region.
The Government has set aside $625,000 to investigate starting a passenger rail service between Hokitika and Westport, improving the ports of both towns, and producing a masterplan for Greymouth in between.
The projects were aimed at boosting the region's economy, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones said on Friday.
The feasibility studies would be funded from the Provincial Growth Fund (PGF).
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Jones said he would be making more funding announcements for the West Coast in the future: the Coast should see this round of funding as an 'appetiser'.
The existing Christchurch-to-Greymouth TranzAlpine scenic trip is worth $25 million in tourism spending annually to the West Coast economy.
KiwiRail chief executive Peter Reidy said the new route would complement the TranzAlpine, which was often over-subscribed.
Potential packages and itineraries would be tested, and there would be talks with local tourism operators, as part of the feasibility study, he said.
The proposal is to run a daily two-way passenger service on the route, which already has a freight service, and add a new station at Hokitika and a maintenance facility in Greymouth.
If established, the new route would help create new businesses and jobs, Reidy said.
Buller Mayor Garry Howard said he was very excited by the rail link study which he believed would boost visitor numbers to Buller.
Westport's port needed upgrading to ensure the viability of the fishing industry, he said.
The entrance to the Westport and Greymouth ports is made perilous by often rough sand bars.
Earlier this month fishing boats were left stuck out at sea because silting prevented them entering Greymouth's port.
The Buller and Grey district councils' chief executives were working together on a feasibility study for both ports, a spokeswoman said.
The councils were sharing resources, and key port staff at both organisations would have input, she said.
The PGF has put $1 billion a year for regional development projects. About 300 applications or expressions of interest - worth $1.4b - have been lodged.
The West Coast grants allow $125,000 each for business cases at the ports, $250,000 for the rail trip study, $125,000 for the Greymouth masterplan to rejuvenate the town, and $30,000 for work on a masterplan for Punakaiki township.
A spokesman for Jones said the new passenger service could help West Coast tourism reach its goal of 1.1 million visitors a year by 2021.
West Coast-based National Party List MP Maureen Pugh said it was time for the Government to 'step up and deliver' on the work signed off in the West Coast Economic Development Action Plan last year.
West Coasters remained concerned by Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage's stated desire to ban access to public conservation land, which accounted for about 84 per cent of the West Coast, Pugh said.
“Opening up low value conservation land and streamlining permits is necessary to make sustainable economic activity possible, and provide growing employment on the West Coast,' she said.
Jones announced in February he would be giving $1 million towards the construction of two cycleways on the West Coast – the West Coast wilderness trail and the Old Ghost Rd trail.
Also offered, and and later put on hold, was a $350,000 grant for a waste-to-energy plant in the Buller District.