Queenstowners have responded with an emphatic ‘‘no’’ to council’s question asking whether Frankton Track should be sealed.

Information released to Mountain Scene shows 95% of the 1232 respondents to a council survey aren’t in favour of the idea.

Queenstown’s council media man Sam White says around a quarter of those cited the costs involved, and alternative ways City Hall might spend the money.

‘‘There was also feedback that unsealed tracks generally felt more natural and were nicer to run on.’’

In March, council opened up submissions for feedback on three types of surface seal being trialled at different points along the track, deemed a ‘‘priority route’’ in the Whakatipu Active Travel Network.

The trio of 10-metre-long sections were laid to determine which grade could potentially be used to seal the entire track.

But White says half the responses to the survey came in before the different trial surfaces were laid.

A lack of a clear conclusion from a 2021 council survey, asking if sealing the track would make people use it more, was one of the reasons why it went back to ask the community again with trial surfaces, he says.

Only 128 people responded to that first survey, with 31% yes, 38% no and 31% neutral.

Council’s infrastructure committee will consider the trial results and expert advice in a November meeting.

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