Skyline updates provided in closed-door council workshop

Forestry work continues on the hillside above central Queenstown as details of any outcome of investigations into the role played by Skyline in last year's local state of emergency remain out of the public domain.

In recent weeks contractors have been visible on the steep slope beneath the popular gondola tourist attraction, working with heavy machinery.

Queenstown Lakes District Council parks manager Dave Winterburn says the council is aware of the work, which is being undertaken under an eight-year-old resource consent (RM160956).

Mr Winterburn says it includes "completion of existing forestry clearing, removal of logs and slash, and forestry road maintenance", but directed further enquires to the tourism company, which leases the land on Ben Lomond Reserve from the council for its operations.

However Skyline has not responded to a request from Crux for comment on the work underway.

Skyline came under fire in September after debris from its site swept down the forested hillside during heavy rain and inundated the Queenstown cemetery.

A few blocks away, a separate debris flow that started at a construction site at the top of the gondola covered areas around Reavers Lane, damaging private property and forcing residents and businesses to evacuate overnight.

Earlier this month, the mayor and councillors were provided an update on Skyline and its impacts on Reavers Lane as well as Ben Lomond recovery works, in a closed-door workshop.

Members of the public and media were excluded from proceedings for legal reasons.

Limited minutes from the workshop have been made available on the council's website.

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