A stoush over a private property owner's encroachment on reserve land at Albert Town continued this week, with allegations of unfair treatment aimed at the council.
At a meeting of the Wanaka Community Board on Tuesday, board members unanimously recommended revoking the reserve status of a 211sq m strip of land encroached upon by Wicklow Tce property owners Don and Joan Kindley's garage and tennis court.
However, board members disagreed on whether the Kindleys should be required to fence part of their property to define its common boundaries with the neighbouring reserve, on which they have also planted trees, installed a greenhouse and kept a vegetable garden for many years.
The Kindleys want to rectify the encroachment, which they say was unintentional. They also say the Queenstown Lakes District Council signed off their building plans.
In May, the community board publicly notified its intention to revoke the land's status so it could be given back to the Department of Conservation - which vested the land in the QLDC last year - to sell to the Kindleys.
The board recommended the disposal of the land be subject to the Kindleys fencing their property's southern and eastern boundaries in a low-lying single rail and post fence. This requirement was later amended to a two-rail and post fence on the southern boundary.
During the public forum at this week's meeting, Mrs Kindley questioned the need for the "intrusive fencing", which would be a "blight on the landscape".
She said there were many unfenced properties in the district which were open to reserves, and questioned the fairness of imposing fencing requirements on their property.
Despite some dissension, the board voted to revoke the reserve status of the land, subject to one-rail and post fencing being erected on the eastern and southern boundaries.
Afterwards, the Kindleys voiced their disappointment with the decision.
