Tenure review for high profile Wanaka property
2 December 2005
Part of the South Island's high profile tourism landscape has featured in the latest pastoral leasehold tenure reviews to be completed in Otago.
The lessee has agreed to the substantive proposal for the 4,260 hectare Cattle Flat pastoral lease, 24 kilometres from Wanaka on the Wanaka - Mount Aspiring road. The property lies on the eastern flanks of the Harris Mountains and overlooks Lake Wanaka and the Matukituki Valley. The area is popular with skiers, rock climbers and trampers, and the review reserves two popular rock climbing sites.
All told, 1619 hectares is passed to the conservation estate as a result of the review. The newly created area will include an 890 hectare grazing concession.
The conservation area protects high-value alpine vegetation and habitats. As well as the kea so familiar to skiers in the area, the area supports less visible but ecologically important species of native insect including the rare plume moth.
Cattle Flat also incorporates sites of historical and cultural significance to Ngai Tahu, and two areas are being covenanted as part of the review.
The tenure review will release land capable of economic use from the constraints of the lease, while allowing other commercial uses of the land, subject to the requirements of the Resource Management Act and the District Plan.
Further east, the smaller Obelisk Creek pastoral lease has also reached the final stages of tenure review, with the lessee agreeing to the substantive proposal.
The 530 hectare property is on the eastern faces of the Old Man Range, 16 kilometres south of Alexandra. The 130 hectares that will be retired from grazing and passed to the conservation estate is higher altitude land featuring fragile alpine cushionfields, herbfields and shrublands. The conservation land will extend existing alpine conservation land on the Old Man Range.
A transition period for grazing on the conservation land will allow the lessee to adjust his farming operation, while on the lower slopes part of the freeholded land is covenanted to protect the tussock landscape.
Most of the freeholded land is established lower altitude farmland, which has been developed with oversowing and topdressing.
Tenure review summary
Of the original 304 Crown pastoral leases, 46 have now passed through tenure review. Of these reviews, 25 have so far been fully implemented. (Implementation is considered complete when the necessary surveying and fencing has been completed, conservation land designated for Crown ownership has been passed to DOC, and freehold title has been issued for land designated freehold under the review.) A further 145 pastoral leases are engaged in earlier stages of tenure review.
| Tenure review progress as at 17 November 2005 | Number of leases | Land to Crown (ha) | Land to freehold (ha) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tenure review implementation complete | 25 | 51,177 | 70,605 |
| Final Proposal (substantive proposal) signed off; implementation under way. | 21 | 41,352 | 67,592 |
For further information please contact:
Paul Jackson
Manager, Crown Property
Land Information New Zealand
Private Box 5501
WELLINGTON
PH: 04 460 0158
FAX: 04 460 0590
CELL: 027 249 1258
EMAIL: pjackson@linz.govt.nz
LINZ media liaison:
Tanya St George
Strategic Communications Manager
Land Information New Zealand
Private Box 5501
WELLINGTON
PH: 04 498 3844
FAX: 04 472 1864
CELL: 027 287 9403
EMAIL: tstgeorge@linz.govt.nz
Department of Conservation media liaison:
Tony Perrett
High Country Tenure Review Manager
Department of Conservation
Otago Conservancy
PH: 03 474 6904
CELL: 027 481 1936
EMAIL: tperrett@doc.govt.nz
Federated Farmers media liaison:
Bob Douglas
Industry Manager South Island High Country Committee
Farming House
PO Box 665
Timaru
PH: 0800 327-646
FAX: 03 688-4096
HM TEL/FAX: 03 686-4762
CELL : 021 622 822
EMAIL: southcanterbury.ff@fedfarm.org.nz
