Mount Iron milestone celebration
A ceremony to celebrate the public ownership of Mount Iron Recreation Reserve, Wānaka, will be held this Saturday, 27 May.
Queenstown Lakes District Council and Allenby Farms Ltd previously reached an agreement to see 67ha on the north, west and southern flanks of Mount Iron, and land alongside State Highway 84, transferred to Council ownership and held as reserve for community use.
The agreement also includes 27ha centred on Little Mount Iron, while the Cleugh family will retain 22ha on the north side of Mount Iron.
QLDC Community Services General Manager, Kenneth Bailey, says anyone interested in raising a metaphorical glass to Mount Iron can attend the ceremony, at the start of the existing trail near the Allenby Place car park at 11am.
"We’re absolutely thrilled to celebrate this ‘once in a generation’ opportunity and a significant and much loved local landmark becoming a public reserve for everyone to enjoy, forever," Bailey says.
"It'll be an exciting moment and a massive achievement to finalise this legacy acquisition for the community, and to recognise all the work that has gone into the shared vision behind it."
Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) is in the process of issuing a new property title for the nearly 100 hectares of land which will soon become a community asset.
"I’d also like to thank the Cleugh family and Allenby Farms Ltd for being caretakers of the land and providing the public with access to trails. They always had a long-term vision that Mount Iron should, at some point, become a community reserve," Bailey adds.
The celebration ceremony will be attended by Mayor Glyn Lewers, elected members, Council staff, iwi and the Cleugh family.
A blessing of the site will be followed by a ribbon cutting and unveiling of new signage.
Council plans to notify its intention to create a Reserve Management Plan for Mount Iron in June, which will provide for and ensure the use, enjoyment, maintenance, protection, and preservation of the reserve.
Existing public access will continue while this work is underway. Walking tracks from either side remain open but no new developments will be allowed on the site until the community has had a chance to provide feedback on future use.
Walkers are asked to please stick to the public walking tracks and abide by signage along the way identifying where private property begins. Some sections of Mount Iron and Little Mount Iron remain privately owned.
QLDC’s application for management of a further 52.8 hectares of reserve land adjacent to the current purchase and currently governed by Department of Conservation Te Papa Atawhai (DOC) remains in progress.
