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Before and after pictures of the flood damage repair works on the bank of Clutha River in Albert Town. The flood damage repairs started in October 2020 and were completed in early February. While the work has primarily focused on repairing flood damage and stabilising the steep slope, the lower access track has been widened, raised, and levelled. More on Page 2.
Frustration over Mt Iron clearance consent Joanna Perry
newsdesk@thewanakasun.co.nz
t Iron residents voiced their frustrations with Council resource consent requirements for vegetation clearance at a fire risk meeting held in Wānaka on Tuesday, February 2. The Mt Iron red zone of 374 properties and 255 buildings is surrounded by a heavy fuel load of native manuka and kanuka scrub. The FENZ Get Fire Safe at the Interface recommendation was to clear 10m of kanuka on either side of a property and 30m downhill, which directly contravenes the resource consent and district plan rules that apply to Mt Iron subdivisions. Under Queenstown Lakes District Council’s (QLDC) indigenous vegetation protection requirements, resource consents must be sought to clear more than 50m2 of kanuka from a property. Richard Campion (QLDC Team Leader - Resource Consents Wānaka) said QLDC and FENZ were investigating ways to reach a balanced solution to this “complicated and
M
complex issue” that would allow residents to meet FENZ guidelines while still ensuring the special biodiversity and amenity values of Mt Iron were protected. In the meantime, residents wishing to begin vegetation clearance were advised to reach out to FENZ for technical support and speak with a planner/resource consent officer. QLDC Councillor, Wānaka Community Board member and Hidden Hills resident Niamh Shaw, said: “Although I understand how the RMA enabled it at the time, arguably the subdivisions on Mt Iron should never have been consented in the first instance. To be fair, hindsight is a brutal master; but people should not be living on the northern slopes of Mt Iron on large sections hosting thriving, highly flammable indigenous vegetation. “And yet we are; and, importantly, we choose to live here. I don’t think anyone is claiming it is not our own personal responsibility to keep our families and neighbours safe. We just need to be supported to do so, and empowered to reasonably
mitigate risk.” This was one of the key issues to come out of the two-hour meeting, which covered a four point plan to address the fire risk at Mt Iron readiness, reduction, response and recovery. Immediate actions for residents were to create a household emergency plan, assemble and maintain emergency contacts, and look at other FENZ Get Fire Safe at the Interface guidelines such as clearing undergrowth; thinning vegetation; clearing spouting/gutters; use of fire-resistant cladding and fencing materials; and ensuring there are no fuel sources in the immediate vicinity of the property. A response planning meeting between the community associations, FENZ, QLDC and Emergency Management Otago was to be arranged, and investigations into improving signage and community awareness for the fire risk at Mt Iron, as well as options for community wildfire alarm systems, were ongoing. “I am hopeful we will have more practical responses for the next meeting,” said Shaw.
*Includes house and land. Some conditions may apply. Photo is a sample only.
PHOTO: Supplied
QLDC Councillor Niamh Shaw: “People should not be living on the northern slopes of Mt Iron on large sections hosting thriving, highly flammable indigenous vegetation.”