The latest information on Mount Iron Recreation Reserve in Wānaka.
Welcome to our latest newsletter about Mount Iron Recreation Reserve in Wānaka.
What’s the latest?
We’re stoked to see so many in the Wānaka and Upper Clutha community sharing feedback to help guide the development of a Reserve Management Plan for our newest community reserve: Mount Iron. So far, we’ve had an impressive 822 ideas pinned to the online interactive map available on Let’s Talk, and we’ve gathered a significant range of community insights from our workshop events too.
Keen to join the conversation?
Our online Mount Iron Recreation Reserve Map will be open for more pins and comments until Monday 20 November – so be sure to get in quick if you’ve got an idea to share! Click here to us know what you think.
Thanks for the feedback so far
A big thank you to everyone who’s taken the time to share their feedback, both on our Let’s Talk page, by email, and in person at one of the several community events we’ve recently hosted.
Over 60 people attended our workshops on the topic, and our Parks team was delighted with the positive discussions about what Mount Iron should look like in the future.
We’ve also had the pleasure of chatting with plenty of residents and visitors at the pop-up session we held on the Mount Iron track on Saturday 4 November. We even saw a few people dropping by multiple times after walking the trail and coming up with new ideas!
We’re now working to pull together everything we’ve heard about Mount Iron and will create a summary of all the feedback too. Once we’ve reviewed everything, we can start creating the draft Reserve Management Plan.
Update on the Environmental Monitoring sensors
Installation of environmental monitoring sensors on Mount Iron is scheduled from mid-November. The data from these sensors will provide reserve users with real-time information on pollen count, air quality and weather conditions to help improve their experience while enjoying the area. Five pole-mounted environmental sensor units will be installed around Mount Iron.
Information from the sensors will be available on an app to help people understand and adjust to changing conditions, and assist in early fire detection too. Environmental data from the network will be available from the Attentis App in December.
Opening up access to an existing track on Mount Iron
We’ve made a little change on Mount Iron!
You might have noticed a new opening in the fence near the woolshed (next to the Three Parks roundabout), which means you can now access the existing trail around a small part of the base of Mount Iron, instead of having to walk down to and along the state highway. If you’ve been to Mount Iron in years gone by, you’ll recognise the trail as one you used to be able to access.
Now, you can again!
Volunteers from the Upper Clutha Wilding Tree Group start wilding control
A small group of trained volunteers will be carrying out control work on wilding conifers on Mount Iron between now and Christmas. They’ll be tackling the smaller and more easily accessible trees in the recreation reserve.
Control of larger wilding conifers in the area will be completed by contractors next year.
Little Mount Iron trail update
The Upper Clutha Tracks Trust has marked out a walking route on an existing but old track on Little Mount Iron, connecting Albert Town from Racecourse Road through to Wānaka at Hidden Hills.
The markings are a temporary measure before we develop the draft RMP for the area, as they will help ensure users stay on the right path and get through bluffed and bushy sections safely.
Council is organising signage for the new trail and we hope to have this installed at the end of the month. We’ll update the community as soon as the track is ready to explore.
Have a question or keen to find out more?
We’re happy to answer questions you may have about the Reserve Management Plan, and we’ve got an online Q&A portal available on our Let's Talk page. Check out the questions others have submitted and the answers, or ask your own question here. We’ll get back to you as soon as we can!
For more details on this project, head to Let's Talk or the QLDC webpage.
