Upper Moutere finally gets ‘phenomenal’ path

Upper Moutere’s long-awaited shared path was formally opened on the weekend, and local children are putting it to good use.

Alex Stradling, 11, thought the path was “really good” while his younger brother Callum, 8, agrees that it adds a lot of fun to the day.

Tommy Silcock, 10, has been using the path to bike to school – something he couldn’t do before.

“It was too dangerous on the highway,” he says. “It’s good exercise in the morning.”

They’re not the only kids to use the new path, with Upper Moutere School taking its students to explore the path last week.

“It’s pretty much all about the kids, even though I do get to walk directly home from the pub now,” says Moutere Hills Residents Association chair, Nathan Silcock.

“It’s been… a lot of hard work.”

Discussions for a new footpath linking the centre of the village and the busy Moutere Hills Community Centre occurred as early as 2008.

The residents’ association also traces its creation back more than a decade to the community’s desire for the path.

The 1.3km path eventually found itself listed as a priority on Tasman District Council’s list of footpath projects, but construction was delayed in 2021 because negotiations with landowners weren’t completed.

And in 2024, the $400,000 path had been slated for deferral yet again, due to a shortfall in assumed Government funding for active travel projects.

However, the community rallied late last year to successfully persuade the council to get the project back on track.

“Everyone’s super excited,” Nathan says. “Heaps of people… are using it, it’s phenomenal.”

“Literally every time I’ve driven down, there’s been someone on it, without fail,” agrees association committee member James Stradling.

“It’s a really great way of connecting the community… there’s a huge amount of people using the facilities [at the community centre, and] living the end of the village.”

Both men have previously had scares with people walking along the side of the unlit local highway at night and welcome the “massive” safety benefits the path is expected to bring.

“We’re pretty lucky there hasn’t been anyone hit,” Nathan says.

He adds that he doesn’t often feel like driving into the village, and so the path could result in more people taking trips to grab an ice cream or a drink, for example, stimulating the local economy.

James says the community was “very grateful” to finally have the path finished.

“This is something that’s going to last for, probably, generations.”