The Environment Court has ruled that a further 7ha of Sticky Forest will be rezoned from rural to large lot residential.
The decision, made last month, is the latest development concerning the 51ha forest, the use of which has been contested for over a decade.
Queenstown Lakes District Council deputy mayor Quentin Smith said he was ‘‘disappointed but not surprised by the decision’’ which was likely to have a significant impact on the area’s aesthetic.
‘‘It had previously been set aside as a landscape protection area, so it is likely to impact the views as you leave from Peninsula Bay and from the lake.’’
Cr Smith said he was also concerned about the impact on the amenity value of the area following the ruling and on the potential knock-on impacts for the Dublin Bay outstanding natural landscape zone.
‘‘A large proportion of Sticky Forest will now be available for housing under the Environment Court decision, but the remaining area at the northern end of the forest (the Dublin Bay outstanding natural landscape zone) remains uncertain because we don’t know what the landowners will want to do with that in the future,’’ Cr Smith said.
‘‘It remains an outstanding natural landscape zone and it’s unlikely that it will be subject to housing at this point, but that doesn’t stop that from being a possibility in the future, particularly with the changes to the Resource Management Act,’’ Cr Smith said.
In July 2024, the Environment Court ruled that 19ha of the forest could be rezoned to large lot residential and lower-density suburban housing, with 25ha retaining its distinction as part of the Dublin Bay outstanding natural landscape zone.
February’s decision relates to the remaining 7ha ‘‘remnant area’’, which remained unresolved following the 2024 ruling.
Sticky Forest’s owners — over 2000 descendants of 50 Māori individuals that should have taken ownership of the land under the South Island Landless Natives Act (SILNA) 1906 — had elected to leave the land zoned as rural.
However, based on a review of the evidence, the Environment Court ruled large lot residential was ‘‘more logical’’ than rural for the area, directing the council to update its proposed district plan to reflect the new distinction.
Sticky Forest has a complicated ownership history dating back to the 1870s, when Kāi Tahu leader and politician H.K. Taiaroa told the New Zealand House of Representatives the Crown had not honoured its promises and conditions of significant land purchases in the South Island.
The 50 Maori who came to own Sticky Forest were originally promised a block of land at Manuhaea, The Neck, but as that land had been leased for farming, in 1895 the Crown swapped it with the block of land now known as Sticky Forest.
But the transfer of Sticky Forest to its rightful owners never took place and by the time the transfer was formalised as part of the Ngāi Tahu Claims Settlement Act in 1998, Wanaka’s mountain bike community had already begun developing the Forest’s trail network.
Based in one of Wanaka’s most desirable neighbourhoods, the forest had significant economic potential, but its rural zoning meant the owners were unable to capitalise on it.
In 2015, one of the descendants of the original 50 Maori owners, Christchurch property developer Mike Beresford, applied to rezone the full 51ha as residential, before compromising on 19ha.
Sticky Forest houses an extensive trail network used primarily by mountain bikers.
Bike Wanaka, a group which represents mountain biking in the town, had previously opposed the rezoning, but now accepts the Environment Court’s decision and is looking to develop a co-operative relationship with the forest’s owners.
‘‘We respect the decision that has been given by the Environment Court to rezone a remnant area of Sticky Forest,’’ Bike Wānaka president Ewan Mackie said.
‘‘This is a complex issue, both legally and morally. Our position has always been to acknowledge the rights the SILNA group, who have been historically dispossessed.
‘‘We did oppose the rezoning application as a club and advocated for an alternative solution be found to give the SILNA group the recompense they are entitled to.
‘‘But, now that the decision has been made to rezone a portion of the forest, we respect that outcome.
‘‘Our focus is on developing a respectful relationship with the SILNA group, based upon listening, learning and discussion,’’ Mr Mackie said.
- Ruairi O'Shea
