Two construction companies to join Skyline in court

Naylor Love and Wilson Contractors are the two companies to join Skyline in facing charges related to a damaging debris flow in central Queenstown last year.

Naylor Love, a national construction company with an office in Frankton, has been the lead construction company for a major revamp of Skyline's base on the hillside above the town's CBD. 

Meanwhile Wilson Contractors, which has its headquarters on State Highway Six before the Hanley's Farm turn off, is understood to have been a subcontractor at the work site.

The view from atop the Skyline gondola, looking east, down the hill towards Gorge Road, shows a flow of shingle and rock beginning at construction stockpiles, September 2023.

Last month, the Queenstown Lakes District Council confirmed in a statement it had filed charges against three companies for alleged breaches of the Resource Management Act relating to activities that allegedly contributed to a slip on the Ben Lomond Reserve that affected Reavers Lane on September 22, 2023.

The defendants were due to appear in the Queenstown District Court today, however that court appearance has been pushed out until the second week of December, after an agreement was reached by the parties involved.

In September 2023, during torrential rain, a debris flow alleged to have started at a construction site at the top of the gondola covered areas around Reavers Lane, off Gorge Road in Queenstown, damaging private property and forcing residents and businesses to evacuate overnight.

The event led to district Mayor Glyn Lewers declaring a local statement of emergency and some houses being 'red stickered'.

Skyline earlier outed itself as one of the three companies facing charges from the council.

In a statement at the time, chief executive Geoff McDonald said he was "disappointed" to have received notification of the regulatory action action, which related to "an unexpected and very significant weather event...causing flooding and slips across the region".

While acknowledging the distress the events caused the community, Mr McDonald said the company had committed to supporting clean-up activities and remediation works on the slope below the gondola afterwards.

A separate debris flow in September 2023 ran down Bob's Peak, burying sections of the Queenstown Cemetery with logs and mud and impacting Brecon and Shotover Streets.

Court documents confirm Naylor Love and Wilson Contractors are also facing charges alongside Skyline.

Main image (Supplied): Two parked vehicles partially buried by a debris flow into Reavers Lane on September 22, 2023.