A disused Queenstown Lakes District Council wastewater disposal site near the Cardrona Village will become a new community reserve.

The two hectare site now earmarked for a reserve is on the south side of the village.

“This announcement is a positive outcome for a community that wants to plan for the future,” Cardrona Valley Residents and Ratepayers Society Blyth Adams said.

The society had been trying to get the conversion to a community reserve off the ground for ten years, Blyth said.

Last week Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) society finally told the society it would go ahead with the remediation work needed to turn the site into a reserve the community can enjoy.

The Cardrona community has held a series of workshops over the past few months to “set priorities and define community projects”, sometimes attracting more than half the residents of the area, Blyth said.

"The catalyst for QLDC's change of heart was council's Blue-Green Networks initiative, which aims to establish public spaces at regular distances throughout residential areas. 

“The Cardrona Village has no public car park, very few places that drivers can safely pull off the road, and nowhere for the school buses to safely pick up and drop off children.”

“As our community grows, this is only going to get worse."

Blyth said the remediation of the site is consistent with the objectives of QLDC's Blue-Green Networks initiative, and has sufficient space to also include a bus stop, public car park, public toilets, and electric car charging stations.  

"We're aware that council processes take time, and that plans will evolve. Redesignating this land as a reserve is a crucial milestone that starts us on our journey, and we look forward to working with council planners," he said.

Blyth said that the proposed new reserve is just one of several projects in Cardrona's community-led initiative.  

PHOTO: Supplied