Ceremony to mark change at Mt Iron

PUBLIC ownership of Mount Iron Recreation Reserve will be celebrated on Saturday with a ceremony at the start of the trail near Wa¯ naka’s Allenby Pl carpark at 11am.

Queenstown Lakes District Council community services general manager Kenneth Bailey said anyone interested in raising a metaphorical glass to Mt Iron should come along and help acknowledge the milestone.

“We’re absolutely thrilled to celebrate this ‘once in a generation’ opportunity and a significant and much loved local landmark becoming a public reserve for everyone to enjoy, forever,” Mr Bailey said.

“It'll be an exciting moment and a massive achievement to finalise this legacy acquisition for the community, and to recognise all the work that has gone into the shared vision behind it.”

Land Information New Zealand (Linz) is issuing a new property title for the nearly 100ha of land which will soon become a community asset.

Mr Bailey thanked the Cleugh family and Allenby Farms Ltd for being caretakers of the land and providing the public with access to trails.

‘‘They always had a longterm vision that Mount Iron should, at some point, become a community reserve.’’

The celebration ceremony will be attended by Mayor Glyn Lewers, elected members, council staff, iwi and the Cleugh family.

A blessing of the site at 11am will be followed by a ribbon cutting and unveiling of new signage.

The council plans to notify its intention to create a reserve management plan for Mt Iron next month.

It will provide for and ensure the use, enjoyment, maintenance, protection, and preservation of the reserve.

Public access will continue while the work is under way.

Walking tracks from either side of Mt Iron remain open but no new developments will be allowed on the site until the community has had a chance to provide feedback on future use.