The council has $84,884 in the kitty to pay for the land it needs to make the project possible.

Four different route options were initially put forward but one has stood out for council staff and councillors.

Any landowner who does not voluntarily give up their land, in return for payment, will have it taken from them through compulsory acquisition under Section 10A of the Land Acquisition (Just Terms Compensation) Act 1991.

The council plans to acquire the land within a six month period.

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The council expects some landowners won't support the project.

Council's transport and infrastructure engineering operations manager Chris Pinchen said some landowners did not provide consent for the council to carry out survey and investigation works when it was exploring its concept design.

"Objection from some impacted property owners is expected, regardless of the route alignment," Mr Pinchen said.

"Independent property valuations will be undertaken to establish market value and the value of other relevant matters to be considered in determining amounts of compensation such as any loss attributable to severance, disturbance or disadvantage from relocation and contributory works like fencing, gates."

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Councillor Peter Garnham said the route that had been chosen was "common sense" and it had "been accepted by the landowners".

"We need to keep working towards the Morpeth to Walka [shared pathway] dream, I guess, because it's all about outdoor activity and connectivity," he said.