Queenstown tourism businesses call council wildfire plan 'inadequate'

A group of Queenstown businesses is urging the Queenstown Lakes District Council to be more proactive and work with them to address the critical wildfire risk on Ben Lomond Reserve.

The businesses - Skyline, Ziptrek, GForce Paragliding, and AJ Hackett Bungy - are concerned the council’s plan to simply close the reserve during the peak summer period when the fire risk is high does not go far enough, will not work, and will only damage the Queenstown economy.

The businesses have developed an alternative plan that includes creating firebreaks, removing dead trees, ground treatments, and installing building drenchers, to ensure the public is kept safe and businesses can continue to operate during high-risk fire days.

A proposed planner tree clearance on a reserve above the Queenstown CBD (Image: QLDC).

Councillors were briefed on this plan, which has been validated by Fire and Emergency New Zealand, at a workshop at the council's Gorge Road chambers on Tuesday.

In a written statement after the workshop, Skyline chief executive Geoff McDonald says a critical part of the plan would see the QLDC remove the trees on the parts of the reserve it has responsibility for.

“We will play our part to ensure the fire risk is minimised but the council needs to step up and take responsibility as well, because a fire on Ben Lomond Reserve would be devastating for the Queenstown community and economy.

“At the moment, QLDC’s position is one of inaction. Rather than manage its land and the trees, it proposes simply closing the entire Ben Lomond reserve, including all commercial operations, in hot weather when the fire risk is elevated.

“The toll on the community would be immense, as we have witnessed in other tourism communities, including Hawaii and Kangaroo Island in Australia. The destruction of such a vital area would have far-reaching consequences, affecting ‘brand Queenstown’ and the New Zealand tourism industry.”

Mr McDonald says the stakeholders think the council’s approach is fundamentally inadequate and puts lives at greater risk than would be the case if the Ben Lomond reserve was being properly managed to remove fuel load.

“Our plan addresses the source of the risk by tackling the key issue - fuel load. In addition, our plan provides a place of safety and refuge for reserve users on high-risk days. The approach is endorsed by FENZ - it is a solution that provides safety for 365 days of the year.

He says significant tree removal works to mitigate the wildfire risk have already been undertaken in the areas within the Ben Lomond Reserve which Skyline leases - at the business' own cost.

"In addition, Skyline is further investing in measures to make the main building a safe haven in the event of a fire. 

"We urge QLDC to tackling the underlying risk for wildfire – fuel load and lack of firebreaks – within the areas of the reserve it is responsible for.

“QLDC has said that our plan has merit. As landlord and lessor, it needs to take responsibility and fast-track these critical safety measures, just as we have done for the parts of the reserve we lease and are responsible for.

“Climate change is only going to worsen in coming years, and so the Ben Lomond Reserve must be managed in a systematic and ongoing way by QLDC. 

"We want to work with the council as they take the lead and implement this plan to ensure ongoing safety and operational stability at Ben Lomond Reserve."

The council implemented a wildfire prevention programme in 2023, and reserve closures at Ben Lomond, Queenstown Hill and Mount Iron are part of it.

Reporting to councillors ahead of the workshop, council parks manager Briana Pringle says the closures are intended to mitigate the impact of fire by removing people from potential harm during periods of heightened risk.

In a presentation at the workshop council staff note a wildfire in Ben Lomond Reserve "would be very hard to control due to the steep slopes, large amounts of vegetation and limited escape routes".

They say reserve closures are the council's "primary tool for managing wildfire risk", however firebreaks are also proposed in the draft Long Term Plan, which is out for public consultation.