New Zealand Cycle Trail

It was proposed by then Prime Minister John Key as the 21st "surprise" item of the national job summit held by the New Zealand Government in early 2009.

[7] John Key, who was also Minister of Tourism, noted that as of the middle of March 2009, officials were working "actively and aggressively" on a plan to implement the cycleway,[7] though the original idea of a direct route was abandoned in favour of linking a network of existing paths and new sections, which Key termed 'Great Rides' in allusion to the New Zealand Great Walks system of famous tramping or hiking tracks.

[11] In the second stage of the project, it was announced in February 2010 that out of 54 applications (beyond the quick-start trails), 13 had been selected to receive funding (pending further feasibility studies).

[21] In the middle of March 2009, comments started to emerge from government indicating that the initial vision of a single track throughout the country would probably not be realised, at least not in the same form.

[22] Setting out further specifics, in May 2009 it was confirmed that instead of a single route throughout New Zealand, the project would, at least initially, concentrate on a number of promising individual links.

[23] The intention of the trail, apart from creating jobs in an economic downturn (both in construction and later in the tourism industry associated with it), is to provide local and international cycle tourists with a route to travel on.

[26] Tourism New Zealand noted that the project could also provide a much-needed boost to the viability and funding of many cities' languishing cycling strategies and plans.

[28] Prime Minister John Key noted that he expected about 500 jobs to be provided in construction of the cycleways in total, with up to 4,000 eventually created through tourism benefits the trails would bring.

[8] Of the total sum, $2.5m have been set aside for management and advisory functions in the Ministry of Tourism, while $47.5m will be used to create the National Cycleway Project Fund, from which successful applicants will draw money for construction of routes.

[13] In July 2010, it was announced that 8 of the 13 cycle trails had received the go-ahead, four needed further study, and one (Tauranga Moana) had been rejected, due to land-use/access issues making the proposal unfeasible in the short term.

[65] Others have countered the criticism noting that the money spent on the cycleway would go back into the New Zealand economy in any case, and leave the country with a lasting infrastructural benefit.

[66] Editorialists have remarked that the Prime Minister remained clearly behind the project he helped launch, despite criticism about changes in the estimated costs, and the shift from the initial concept of a single track towards a network.

[29] Occasionally, locals, especially farmers, have however expressed concerns that vandalism would occur when tourists on bikes travelled through previously inaccessible areas, though experiences from the Otago Rail Trail indicates that such fears are overstated.