Slice of paradise goes to conservation trust
A multimillion-dollar slice of New Zealand’s most spectacular landscape is being donated to a conservation charity to protect it from development and ensure it remains unspoilt for future generations.
Queenstown couple Dick and Jillian Jardine are giving 900 hectares of their Remarkables Station to the Queen Elizabeth II National Trust (QEII), which is dedicated to protecting the country’s natural heritage.
The pristine land sits at the foot of the Remarkables mountain range and skirts the edge of Lake Wakatipu, home to some of the most recognisable scenery in the country.
The trust will hold the freehold land in perpetuity, ensuring the land and biodiversity on the property is protected.
The property will officially change hands and a QEII covenant will be placed on the title in 2022, 100 years after the Jardine family first bought it.
It is leased as a working farm and that will continue for the foreseeable future.
Jillian Jardine said the biodiversity and visual amenities of the land were precious, and they never wanted any housing or development to be allowed on it.
‘‘It is worth a lot of money but we don’t need it,’’ she said, declining to put a value on it.
She had been looking forward to marking the occasion with a formal announcement yesterday, but was disappointed that new Conservation Minister Kiri Allan and local MP Joseph Mooney would not be present.
Parliament was formally opening on the same day.
The property was purchased by Dick Jardine’s grandfather in 1922 and the family have farmed sheep, cattle and, more recently, deer on the station.
Dick and Jillian Jardine took over the farm about 30 years ago and have since sold significant
sections for commercial development including the Jacks Point golf course and subdivision, and the exclusive Homestead Bay development.
The couple have become known for their philanthropic gestures, including extensive support of local arts organisations. In 2016, they gifted their 4ha Woolshed Bay property to the University of Otago’s Foundation Trust.
It is being developed as a research retreat for academics.
They earlier put a QEII covenant in place on part of the station known as the Jardines’ Boulder Field, where large boulders, some the size of buses, are popular for sight-seeing and rock-climbing.
Dick Jardine said the family was delighted to pass a large piece of the station into QEII’s care.
‘‘Having QEII as the caretaker of this property gives us the comfort and assurance to proudly pass over this gift for all New Zealand to enjoy and appreciate.’’
QEII chairman Bruce Wills said the gift to New Zealand was ‘‘extraordinarily generous’’.
‘‘It is also an exciting opportunity for us to demonstrate the integration of pastoral farming, conservation, public access and landscape protection on such a prominent and accessible site.’’
It is not the first tract of Wakatipu land to be placed in the care of the trust. In 2014, music producer Mutt Lange – the former husband of country music star Shania Twain – invested 53,000ha with the trust, creating New Zealand’s largest private covenant.
The covenants cover most of the Motatapu, Mt Soho, Glencoe and Coronet Peak stations, which sit between Queenstown and Wānaka.
‘‘It is worth a lot of money but we don’t need it.’’ Jillian Jardine