Mediation between the Queenstown Lakes District Council and the representative of the land owners of Wanaka’s Sticky Forest has been postponed until after July.
Sticky Forest is a pine plantation to the north of Wanaka’s town centre, and contains more than 30km of trails built and maintained by Bike Wanaka members and other biking enthusiasts.
It was given to the Maori descendants of the 53 owners of the Hawea-Wanaka block known as "The Neck" as a substitute land for settlement redress.
Maori land owner representative Mike Beresford lodged an appeal with the Environment Court when the council rejected his bid to re-zone 20 hectares of Sticky Forest to allow residential development.
Council spokesman Jack Barlow said it could confirm that "all the parties to the Beresford appeal agreed to a request for the Court to defer mediation until July 2020".
"The Court will set an exact mediation date in due course," he said.
Bike Wanaka spokesman Simon Telfer said it would use the time "to continue to come up with more ideas of how the beneficiaries can receive economic recompense while Wanaka retains a much loved green space".
