Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) says the public can expect an update on the Mt Iron acquisition at next week’s full council meeting. 

Last December the council announced it had reached an agreement to purchase almost 100 hectares of land around Mount Iron and Little Mount Iron from landowner Allenby Farms - and now it's making progress on acquiring even more of the popular landmarks. 

The council is in discussions with the Department of Conservation about the “possible transfer” of some of the land around the southeastern side of Mount Iron, QLDC said in a statement.

“[That] would lead to QLDC taking over management of an additional 52.8ha of scenic reserve land here.”

The view of Wānaka township and the lake from Mt Iron.

Councillor Quentin Smith told the Wānaka App it made sense that the acquisition of the Mount Iron land is managed as a single, approximately 150ha reserve rather than across two agencies.

He said DOC was better positioned to manage national parks and conservation land than an urban park.

Transferring DOC’s portion of the Mount Iron land to QLDC requires a set process which must be followed, he said, and taking the topic to the council meeting was one of the first steps in that process.

An agreement for the acquisition from Allenby Farms was made in December last year but there are still some hoops to jump before the sale is finalised: One of them is a requirement to gain resource consent to erect a 1.1km boundary fence on the north-western side of Mount Iron. 

QLDC said last month it had lodged the resource consent application. 

The council must also apply to the Ministry of Land Information (LINZ) to gain approval under the Public Works Act to acquire the land and reclassify it as 'Recreation Reserve'.

Council will share an update on the Allenby Farms acquisition and the potential transfer with DOC at the council meeting next Friday (August 12), QLDC said.

PHOTOS: Wānaka App