Supporters of the proposed Kohatu Park Motorsport and Adventure Park believe the Tasman District Council’s decision to approve $300,000 for road works at the entrance of the park will be the catalyst to get the project back on track.
The 203-hectare site is located near Tapawera and is being planned by private investors for motorsports groups around the top of the South Island. Upgrading the intersection is one of the conditions of the resource consent for the park and trust member Dugald Ley says they are delighted with council’s decision to fund the work.
“Council put the funding for the intersection upgrade in there specifically as a signal that they supported Kohatu Park but then it dropped off their radar,” Dugald says. “The upgrade was critical for us, so, now it’s going ahead we’re hoping it will be the catalyst to get things going again.”
Dugald says the intersection upgrade is critical because the resource consent stated that it had to be completed before the park could admit paying public to events. He says the park has been used successfully for open days and practises and the trust is now looking forward to staging “full events” at the park.
Council is finalising the land purchase required for the works at the junction of Olivers Rd and the Motueka Valley Highway and plans to start construction in August.
Dugald says the trust is optimistic that the intersection upgrade will encourage potential investors to support the project. He says they have been approaching a number of people around the top of the South Island for support and hope they will be encouraged by the latest development.
“Once supporters see something happening then the funding will come in. The intersection upgrade could be a turning point.”
Dugald says the trust has already secured some funding but still needed a lot more before the park could be fully developed. He concedes that the trust’s initial plans for a $26million development, including a 3.5km race track and a drag strip, were “fairly ambitious” and they are now “more realistic about what we can achieve in the short term”.
“We might have to aim for something that’s more modest for a start. We can do anything that only requires moving a piece of dirt around – that’s easy – but a sealed race track track will have to wait.”
