A proposed change to the historic listing of the Kingston Flyer under the Queenstown Lakes District Plan could ultimately see the steam train moved from the district.
A report will be presented to the council at its meeting in the resort tomorrow on the Heritage Inventory, recommending the ''elements of the Kingston Flyer train set'' - two engines, seven carriages and the station building - be downgraded from category 1 to category 2.
''Significantly, this places the possibility of removal ... from the district as a non-complying activity,'' the report says.
''In making this recommendation the long-term protection of the primary elements ... is enabled, ... but not restricted to this district, or a specific location in the district.''
The council's planning and development general manager, Marc Bretherton, said the removal, or ''demolition'', of a category 1 item was deemed a prohibited activity, so no application for resource consent could be made to remove an item, for example the Kingston Flyer.
However, as a category 2 item, a resource consent application to remove it could be made.
''Any such application will still be subject to significant tests under the Resource Management Act,'' he said.
The train, owned by David Bryce, has not been operational for almost two years.
It was initially put on the market for $2.5 million before the asking price dropped to $2.1 million last year.
It remains for sale.
The report to the council, prepared by the council's policy senior planner, Tony Pickard, said following assessment by consultant Robin Miller - director of Jackie Gillies + Associates - it was recommended the listing of the engines, carriages and station be downgraded under the district plan.
While one of the carriages, A 595, a gallery (birdcage) car, was a category 1 item in its own right - one of five built between 1899 and 1900 and the sole survivor - its underframe had been replaced and, as with the remainder of the train, its ''historical authenticity'' within the district plan was affected by its association with the district being only recent.
Another carriage had a history of vice-regal/ministerial use.
However, embellishments associated with that were understood to have been removed before it became part of the Flyer as a refreshment car.
''Accordingly, it is not considered to have the same authenticity and status as A 595.''
The engines, built in 1925 and 1927 and put into service in Kingston in 1971, seven carriages constructed between about 1900 and 1923 and the station building, erected in 1973, were ''generally ... in deteriorating condition and require repair and maintenance''.
As a set, it was considered appropriate to give them permanent preservation because of their significance to the district, in terms of ''tourism and the high esteem in which they are held locally''.
''However, as a train set assembled in the early 1970s and brought to the site from elsewhere, they are considered to lack the high degree of authenticity expected of a Category 1 item.''
The proposal was part of the council's district plan review, which would be subject to full public notification later this year.
Kingston Flyer owner David Bryce and Tourism Properties sales agent Adrian Chisholm could not be reached for comment yesterday.
