Accommodating increased demand from prospective long-term lessees of the Hawea Domain proved no easy task at this week's Wanaka Community Board meeting.
Much deliberation took place over what licence terms should be granted for the 39ha domain at Hawea Flat, which was vested in the Queenstown Lakes District Council in 1986.
Since that time, it has been used for commercial grazing - generating $145,000 for the council during the past 10 years - and the annual December Hawea picnic race day, run by the Hawea Gymkhana Club.
APL property manager Jo Conroy said in granting licences over the domain, it was important to find a balance between appropriate community use, maintenance requirements, and income for the council.
She recommended the gymkhana club be granted a 10-year lease over the racetrack and buildings, at no charge, for two weeks each December.
However, this removed the club's previous access to hay from inside the race track, which it has traditionally sold to generate funds for the club.
Gymkhana club vice-president Gerry Shaw said two weeks was not long enough and without the hay sales, the club would struggle.
The community board agreed to extend the gymkhana club's recommended licence to four months, from September to December. The rest of the year, the council's income from the site could be increased by opening up some of the racetrack area for grazing.
The five-year grazing lease is up for renewal and the three tenderers would need to retender for the larger area, Ms Conroy said.
The Wanaka Pony Club was granted a 10-year, year-round lease over about a third of the race track interior plus an additional storage shed site, apart from two weeks up to and including the picnic race day, for an annual fee of $270 plus GST.
The newly formed Hawea Food Forest Charitable Trust, which wants to establish an edible forest for community use at the domain, was granted an initial lease area of about 9000sq m at $1 per year, before expanding into several more hectares of land with costs later increasing to $360 plus GST per year.
Board chairman Lyal Cocks asked Ms Conroy whether there was an out-clause in the leases if the council needed the domain for other community uses, such as sports grounds, in the future.
Ms Conroy confirmed the leases could be cancelled at any time.
