Poor management was responsible for a budget blow-out on Southland's cycle trail, an independent report has found.
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Southland District Council commissioned the review this year after the original $8 million budget for the Around the Mountains Cycle Trail project ballooned to more than $14 million.
The Deloitte report is critical of the governance and management processes for the project.
The independent assessors found there was a lack of adequate financial reporting, poor project management practices, and the people managing it did not have the right skills.
District council chief executive Steve Ruru said mistakes had been made and council should have done better.
"The report certainly highlights a number of organisational failings in the way this project has been managed. Right across the organisation, clearly we could have done a number of things better. We certainly acknowledge that and picking up on the lessons that come out of it and we'll be making improvements to our processes and the way we manage projects of this type going forward."