Local groups and individuals will share their aspirations for the future of the Mt Iron Recreation Reserve at a hearing which begins tomorrow (Tuesday December 10).

Around 100 hectares of land around Mount Iron and Little Mount Iron are now in public ownership and Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) is in the process of finalising a Reserve Management Plan (RMP) to determine how the land is used, managed and preserved. 

QLDC received more than 400 submissions on its draft RMP and submitters will get the chance to share their views, opinions and goals with the hearing panel in-person.

Public submissions show a range of - sometimes competing - hopes for future use of the reserve, from a desire for more mountain biking tracks, walking tracks and rock climbing routes, to calls to prioritise ‘natural use’ over recreation.

Bike Wānaka said there is a strong desire by the mountain biking community to “reinvigorate” mountain biking on Mt Iron now that it is in public ownership.

Mountain biking has occurred on Mount Iron for many decades and there is a network of existing mountain bike trails, Bike Wānaka said, and the organisation would like to “refresh” the existing trail network, construct a new “up track” and potentially add new downhill trails in the future.

Club president Ewan Mackie said there had been 250 submissions in support of mountain biking and more than 80 submitters “explicitly asked us to speak on their behalf at [the]... Reserve Management Plan hearing so we feel a sense of responsibility to make their voices heard”.

Local non-profit Upper Clutha Tracks Trust (UCTT) said in its submission it believed the newly enlarged reserve has enough room for many different types of users, including, walkers, recreational cyclists, commuter cyclists, mountain bikers, climbers, paragliders and other recreational and passive uses.

UCTT has recommended a range of upgrades and new tracks, including one (in red) which would create a more direct link from the Old Racecourse Road entrance to the track from Mt Iron Summit to the Hidden Hills entrance. IMAGE: Supplied

It has identified a range of locations where walking tracks could be established, upgraded or reinstated, as well as opportunities for active travel links across various parts of the reserve.

Wānaka Climbing Club (WCC) was another submitter keen for more sites for its group’s users.

It asked QLDC “to enable rock climbing on existing and potential new crags within the reserve”, noting that there are more than 70 climbing routes on at least eight different climbing crags in the reserve.

It was an ideal climbing spot, with a range of intermediate and advanced routes, many of which were sheltered from severe weather, while “the closest alternative climbing is 20km west at Hospital Flat, further to go for after-work climbing and in an area with much higher precipitation”, WCC said.

Meanwhile, Forest & Bird Central Otago asked QLDC to have the reserve designated as a Scenic Reserve, which would “still allow for public access and recreational use, but only where the natural values are not compromised”.

QLDC should “preserve, celebrate and promote Mt Iron Reserve as habitat for thriving populations of the threatened and at risk species and habitat for other flora and fauna species,” the organisation said.

A hearing on the Mt Iron RMP will begin tomorrow. PHOTO: TipTins

The “core value” for the reserve should be to “allow people to enjoy and interact with nature, mostly on nature’s terms and in a way that does not negatively impact on nature and the special values it confers to reserve users and visitors,” Forest & Bird said.

The hearing panel will hear from these groups and others at tomorrow’s hearing, which begins at 10am at the Lake Wānaka Centre’s Armstrong Room.

Once the hearing has concluded, the panel will create the final Mt Iron Reserve RMP and present it to the Wānaka Upper Clutha Community Board (WUCCB) and full council for adoption in early 2025.