Residents have envisioned a future for the “underutilised” 40 hecate Hāwea Domain that could include tennis courts, vegetable gardens, horse paddocks and more.

The draft management plan for the Hāwea Domain was approved for public notification by the Wanaka Community Board (WCB) last week (December 3).

Located between Lake Hāwea and Hāwea Flat, just off Domain Road, the domain has been under public use for decades but the task of creating its first legal management plan is now underway.

A number of submissions made on the future of the domain earlier this year agreed that the domain, located towards the Gladstone Road end of Domain Road, had been underutilised.

It needed to be the centre of a lot more general community activity, including as an outdoor venue for cultural, sports and music events and community celebrations, they said.

Submissions on the future of the domain included requests for the domain to be used for specific activities, such as a dog agility course, tennis courts, garden lots for homegrown vegetables and horse paddocks for lease.

The Hāwea Domain was the venue for the 2019 Goldfields Cavalcade as hundreds of horses, wagons and participants and spectators arrived to celebrate the end of the cavalcade.

The draft plan permits the use of the domain for sporting, cultural, community and recreational events and activities. 

The notification means the public can scrutinise the draft plan and make formal submissions to council in support or against its proposed management. 

The notification period is likely to start in the new year and usually runs for two months.

Next year a hearings panel will be convened if submitters wish to be heard and will consider the submissions. 

The WCB must endorse the final plan before it’s put to the full Queenstown Lakes District Council for approval.

PHOTOS: Wanaka App