The board decided yesterday to recommend to the Queenstown Lakes District Council the lease be granted immediately, but subject to a list of conditions.
Society supporters turned out in force to spell out the society's importance to the region.
A dozen speakers told the board's public forum the society should be granted the lease without delay.
Council senior planner David Wallace had recommended to the board a decision over the lease be delayed a year while a management plan for the reserve was put in place.
After listening to the speakers, board member Brian Lloyd asked Mr Wallace if he still held the same position.
Mr Wallace replied: ''No, I don't.''
He accepted the society needed certainty about its future use of the reserve and that the board had the ability to recommend the lease be granted.
Mr Lloyd said it was a ''no-brainer'' that the lease should be granted. Board chairwoman Rachel Brown acknowledged the importance of the society to the district and noted the Upper Clutha Rugby Club and the Wanaka Lake View Holiday Park, which also occupy the reserve, had recently been granted long-term leases.
The society is seeking a lease to cover its existing building, as well as a proposed building extension required for storage.
Ms Brown noted the society had changed the location of the proposed building extension, and that had met with a favourable response from those concerned at the location of the original extension.
She asked Mr Wallace if he believed the change of location would pose a problem in respect of the council's public consultation process.
Mr Wallace said while he was not a legal expert there was ''wriggle room'' to change the building to get the best outcome for those involved.
One of the opponents of the original proposal, neighbour John Baynes, told the meeting he was now ''mostly satisfied'' by the amended dimensions of the extension because it blocked less of the ''vision corridors'' of neighbours and did not create ''the same degree of claustrophobia''.
''It is less visually offensive and it generally sits more comfortably on the reserve land.
''We now withdraw our opposition to the shed.''
Wanaka and Districts Chamber of Commerce member Mike Toepfer pointed out the annual A&P show attracted 35,000 visitors - two-thirds from outside the Upper Clutha.
Total spending in the district as a result of the show was estimated at over $10 million.
