The need to protect the Hāwea Domain as a wide open green space in a developing community was emphasised at a submissions hearing on the domain’s draft reserve management plan last Thursday (April 22).

Located between Lake Hāwea and Hāwea Flat, just off Domain Road, the 44ha domain has been under public use for decades, but a reserve management plan will formalise the current and future uses of the site. 

QLDC senior parks and reserves manager Jeannie Galavazi said council was now “nearly at the end of the process”. 

The Hāwea-Wanaka Pony Club has been using the domain for years, and a food forest was established on the domain about ten years ago. The domain is also the site for the annual Hāwea Picnic Races.

Residents have weighed in on what the underutilised domain should accommodate, with ideas ranging from freedom camping sites to community events, as well as a wide range of sporting activities.

Hāwea resident Errol Carr, speaking at the hearing, called the Hāwea Domain “the lungs of the community”.

The 44ha domain is a valuable resource for the whole Upper Clutha district, Hāwea Domain Board deputy chair Errol Carr said. PHOTO: QLDC

Errol is the deputy chair of the Hāwea Domain Board, which was formed to work with Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) to make the most of the domain. 

He said protecting the Hāwea Domain was crucial: Many new subdivisions being developed in the area had small green areas for community use but they didn’t have time wide open space of the domain which allowed for a range of uses.

“It’s a very valuable resource for the whole Upper Clutha district,” Errol said.

A draft management plan which was approved for public notification in December last year supports use of the large site for a range of activities. 

Submitters on the draft reserve management plan supported the community use of the facility for the most part, and two submitters, the Hāwea-Wanaka Pony Club and a Central Otago-wide motorcycle club, spoke to their submissions at the hearing.

The hearings panel will now consider the submissions on the draft plan and, together with advice from council staff, present its recommendation on the final form of the Hāwea Domain reserve management plan.