A buyer has been found for a Lake Hawea high country station involved for several years in controversial public access issues.
The Overseas Investment Office has confirmed to the Otago Daily Times it has received an application for consent from "overseas interests'' for the purchase of Hunter Valley Station, which lies between Lakes Hawea and Wanaka.
Group manager Annelies McClure said the application was being processed by the office. She could not estimate when a decision would be made.
The station is leased from the Crown by Taff and Pene Cochrane, who have been embroiled in a dispute over public use of Mead Rd, which runs through the property but is not a legal road.
The road is the only access to Doc's Kidds Bush camping ground, beside Lake Hawea, and has been maintained by the Queenstown Lakes District Council.
Mr and Mrs Cochrane were granted High Court approval to close the road at times for farming purposes.
In April last year, the council directed its chief executive to use the Public Works Act to acquire the disputed section of Mead Rd. What stage that process has reached, and how it fits with the potential sale of the property, could not be confirmed yesterday.
The ODT first reported the 6468ha station being advertised for sale in 2010.
The property has a Land Information New Zealand capital value of $13.25million, including $1.48million of improvements.
Dwellings include a five-bedroom homestead, cottage and shearers' quarters.
Also on the property are stables, haysheds, covered yards, a woolshed, 10 huts, four airstrips, 200km of fencing and 80km of vehicle tracks.
The property has 32km of lakefront and 13km of land fronting the Hunter River.
Mr and Mrs Cochrane could not be contacted for comment yesterday.
