A hearing will be held next week to determine the future of a strip of Albert Town reserve land that has been encroached upon by neighbouring property owners.
Wicklow Tce residents Don and Joan Kindley's garage, tennis court, vegetable garden and some landscaping have breached their property's boundaries and encroached on reserve land.
The land was vested in the Queenstown Lakes District Council by the Department of Conservation (Doc) last year and the reserve status of a 211sq m strip containing part of the tennis court and garage needs to be revoked in order for it to be given back to Doc as freehold land to sell to the Kindleys.
A valuation done for the council has suggested a $30,000 price tag for the land.
The Wanaka Community Board publicly notified its intention to revoke the land's recreation reserve status so it could be disposed of, subject to approved fencing and the Kindleys removing a sign from the road reserve near their house.
Council property manager Dan Egerton, of APL Property, said there were two submissions on the revocation, one in support from the Kindleys, and one in opposition from the Wanaka Residents Association, which believed the revocation was "setting a bit of a precedent" and if the land was sold, "the community needs to be well compensated".
Mr Egerton said the money derived from the sale would go to Doc, not the community.
The hearing will be held on July 25 at the Lake Wanaka Centre, with board member Ken Copland and councillor Jude Battson on the panel.
