Wānaka Golf Club has indicated it would consider accepting a proposed easement covering approximately 400 square meters of the course, provided certain conditions are met, though the club expresses worry about establishing a precedent.
Property owners adjacent to Wānaka Golf Club at the upper end of Youghal Street are pursuing both a right of way and water drainage easement that would extend onto a section of the golf course.
Through its submission regarding the proposed easement, the club expressed concern that the right of way could heighten the risk of golf ball strikes given its proximity to the fairway of the course’s fifth hole.
The easement might also interfere with the club’s intentions to incorporate a par 5 into the front nine holes or other potential course modifications in the future.
The nearly 56-hectare course operates as a Crown recreation reserve designated specifically for golf, with the club maintaining a long-term lease on the reserve.
According to its submission, the club has endured persistent requests and pressure for encroachment from neighboring properties over the years.
The club noted that some neighbors seek additional trees for protection against ball strikes, while neighboring developers prefer tree removal to enhance their developments’ land values.
Other parties have expressed interest in utilizing portions of the reserve land for personal purposes.
The submission stated that as a fundamental principle, the golf club opposes creating additional rights-of-way across golf course property.
The club will only endorse the proposed easement under specific conditions, including eliminating sections of an existing unauthorized informal driveway constructed on the course and implementing strict limitations on right-of-way width.
The proposal encompasses both legitimizing current informal driveways and establishing new easement zones, which could potentially create an expansive, road-like area adjacent to the fairway that the club worries might become a parking space.
The club emphasized its sensitivity toward protecting its lease agreement and maintaining all golf course areas to ensure future viability as development encroaches from all directions around the course.
The club’s submission also requested that QLDC exercise greater caution and deliberation with future applications seeking to encroach on the course.
According to a QLDC spokesperson who spoke with the Wānaka App, the Wānaka Golf Club submission represented one of six submissions received regarding the easement proposal before the submission deadline.
A public hearing will be arranged, and the Wānaka Upper Clutha Community Board will evaluate whether to recommend council approval of the proposed easement in September.
Should the board recommend approval, the full council will then review the proposal at a subsequent meeting.
