The Luggate community is well on the way to getting a new reserve.
Willowridge Developments Ltd owner Allan Dippie is proposing to vest in the Queenstown Lakes District Council 15.76ha of rural general land in his Luggate Park subdivision on the outskirts of the township.
Ownership would be transferred to the council in lieu of reserve improvement contributions.
The reserve would be east of 22 residential sections Mr Dippie proposes to sell on an area known locally as ‘‘the plateau''.
The Wanaka Community Board yesterday adopted a recommendation from council parks and reserves planning manager Stephen Quin the vesting be approved.
Prior to the board decision, Luggate Community Association chairman Graeme Perkins told the meeting the community was ‘‘very much in favour'' of the proposal and he encouraged the board to accept Mr Dippie's offer.
He considered the area would be a recreational and landscape asset to Luggate.
He sought an assurance from the board the land would not be ‘‘carved up'' by the council for residential housing at any point in the future.
Board member Lyal Cocks said applying reserve status to the land would give it ‘‘one of the strongest protections'' against future development.
Board member Ella Lawton questioned one of the conditions that would apply to Willowridge: the recommendation from Mr Quin was for Willowridge to maintain the reserve, and its new planting, for a period of three years.
She was concerned it would take longer than that to be certain plants would survive in such a barren and windy area.
Mr Quin said he had confidence the developer would produce a good result.
Chairwoman Rachel Brown said the board needed to be confident it was not inheriting an area that would become problematic, particularly with broom, briar and wilding pines.
Mr Quin said the council would need to pay for some mowing and weed control, but he considered the proposal ‘‘very positive for the community''.
