Skyline court appearance delayed again

Skyline Enterprises and two other companies are now expected to appear in court next year in relation to their role in a major slip near central Queenstown last year.

The Queenstown Lakes District Council announced in September it was prosecuting the companies for alleged breaches of the Resource Management Act that led to the slip in the Reavers Lane area on September 22.

The mud and debris slide, which occurred after the highest 24-hour rainfall in the resort town for 24 years, plunged down the Ben Lomond Reserve and into the Reavers Lane neighbourhood.

It prompted evacuations and caused building and property damage.

The companies’ first appearances in the Queenstown District Court were set down for October, then put off until Wednesday, but have now been adjourned until March.

After the council’s announcement, Skyline chief executive Geoff McDonald confirmed it was one of the companies charged.

The other two defendants cannot yet be named.

Mr McDonald told the Otago Daily Times last year Skyline had ‘‘accountability’’ for the dislodging of excavated material, stored near its gondola top station, which led to the slip.

The prosecution does not relate to a second slip, under the gondola’s cableway, which deposited forestry slash and mud on to Queenstown Cemetery and the Brecon St area.