Matthew Haggart

Commercial developers have a building lined up for a makeover to complete a "modernisation project" for the shopping precinct in Wanaka's lower main street.

A British tourist is likely to face a charge of careless driving following a two-vehicle road accident in Wanaka yesterday.

Conservation estate mining will not affect our nation's high land-protection status, the minister of Energy and Resources, Gerry Brownlee, says.

The Queenstown Lakes District Council has "perpetrated a giant con job" on sports clubs around the district, and a draft policy to address inconsistent charges to clubs will be a costly bureaucracy for community groups, Wanaka-based critics of a council funding scheme say.

The head of the world's largest environmental conservation authority has taken an "almost unprecedented step" of criticising the New Zealand Government for its stance on mining the conservation estate.

Waitaki MP Jacqui Dean has backed a move by the Queenstown Lakes District Council to increase signs at a freedom camping hot-spot near Wanaka.

Repairs to national park gateway roads started yesterday, while the hazard alert at the slip-formed Young River valley dam looked set to be downgraded as heavy district-wide rain eased.

Alternative plans for a rotunda at Wanaka Station Park have been requested by Wanaka Community Board members, who labelled an architect's contemporary design proposal an "absolutely dreadful" kite lookalike.

A Wanaka-based skydiving business is expanding and bringing in a new purpose-built aircraft for its thrillseeking customers.

Wanaka will soon have its own take on an exclusive slice of Los Angeles after the Wanaka Community Board approved Rodeo Dr as the name for a new road.

Queenstown Lakes District Council contractor United Water has stopped or postponed all of its "non-essential" operations, maintenance, and renewal works across Queenstown Lakes in a bid to meet its overall council budgets.

Campervan rental companies have agreed to push a message to their customers that freedom camping at non-designated campsites is unacceptable in New Zealand.

A battle over access rights to the Hunter River resumed in Wanaka yesterday as fishermen, conservationists, and recreational jet-boaters debated the merits of a Queenstown Lakes District Council bylaw.

Another community-driven stand to block "rubbish campers" along a stretch of the Cardrona River has spurred the Queenstown Lakes District Council into action to address the escalating issue of freedom camping.

Advocates for the retention of Wanaka's town green belt and showgrounds facilities want the Wanaka Community Board to back a greenfields site for a proposed events centre, swimming pool and sports facility.