A pioneering member of the Upper Clutha community, Lesley Burdon, was farewelled at her home on Glen Dene Station, Lake Hāwea, last week (Friday April 22).

Lesley was a former Queenstown Lakes District (QLDC) councillor and member of the Wānaka Community Board (WCB).

She died on April 14, 2022, aged 78.

Her life touched many people, Wānaka Anglican vicar Damon Plimmer said at the celebration of her life, in the garden she created overlooking Lake Hāwea.

“She was a woman of generosity and principle. a great supporter of her community, including her church St Columbas; pioneering the way for others and offering a vital voice to the issues of the day.”

Lesley and her husband Jerry had been married for 57 years, and have three children, Jo, Richard, and Andrea; and eight grandchildren.

Lesley Burdon and husband Jerry.

“Her other great love - other than me - was her magnificent garden,” Jerry said at the service.

Lesley started her garden (well known in gardening circles) from nothing at Glen Dene. “I moved the fences three times and said ‘that’s it’,” Jerry said.

Daughter Jo said Lesley was the family matriarch, who embraced all things in the community.

“Mum had a wonderful vision and energy for the land and the people and was an amazing farming partner for Dad,” she said.

Lesley was one of only two women on the Rabbit and Land Management Advisory Committee, and the first female chair of the WCB.

“She stood up for what she believed in,” Jo said.

Richard said his mother was also chair of Wānaka St John at a crucial time, “when Wānaka was changing from a small rural community to a fast growing tourism town”.

She was positive, enthusiastic and generous, he said, and loved helping people.

During her six years on the QLDC and WCB, from 1992 to 1998, “her values remained firm as a rock”, he said.

Her passion was getting the job done, with a focus on the protection of green spaces, he said. 

“She participated in over 500 hearings and plan reviews… [and was] known for her debating skills. She poured her heart and soul in getting good outcomes for the district.”

The Wānaka App spoke to Lesley in September 2021, talking about the proposed petition to end the Upper Clutha’s association with the QLDC.

Lesley said she was the first woman chair of the WCB and “it was a hell of a battle”.

She said any move for Wānaka to leave the QLDC might make the council “pull its socks up”. Her concerns included the low proportion of QLDC rates spent in the Upper Clutha, and Wānaka’s access to council staff. 

“Queenstown is not looking after us,” she said. “We all like to feel we are getting value for money.”

Lesley, a trained nurse, joined the Vincent Hospital Board in 1987 and in 1989 became a member of the Otago Health Board, advocating for rural health services.

She and Jerry farmed Glen Dene Station from 1979 until Richard took over in 2003.

Former councillor Neville Harris worked with Lesley on both the council and WCB.

She was a great debater and orator, and had the potential to be mayor, he told the Wānaka App.

Neville worked with her on the first District Plan, which was an “horrendous job”, involving thousands of submissions. “Lesley was very precise,” he said.

Wānaka’s Green Belt (from Wānaka Station Park, Pembroke Park and the recreation reserve, through to Faulks Reserve and the Golf Course, then Lismore Park and Eely Point) had been dropped in the changeover to district plans, and Lesley was a strong advocate for the area to be included and protected for the long term.

“She was a bit like a dog with a bone,” Neville said.

“We would still talk to each other about two or three times a month about what was going on and what we would do to fix it.’

“She was a great woman,” he said.