Mount Iron Reserve Management Plan

An overview of QLDC's Mount Iron Reserve Management Plan, including newsletter sign-ups and regular updates.
Parks, Property & Community

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Mount Iron Reserve Management Plan

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Management of DOC land at Mount Iron

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About Mount Iron Reserve

Mount Iron is an iconic landmark in the Upper Clutha. Approximately 2km from the town centre, it offers panoramic views of Wānaka and its surrounds, and is arguably one of the most popular walking tracks in the Upper Clutha with over 180,000 visitors heading up the Mount Iron slopes each year.

Queenstown Lakes District Council purchased nearly 100ha of land around Mount Iron and Little Mount Iron in May 2023 from private ownership. The land was designed a recreation reserve, which ensures it’s held as public land in perpetuity. The Department of Conservation administers the remaining reserve land at Mount Iron.  

What's the latest?

  • The Mount Iron Reserve Management Plan (RMP) has been approved and adopted by Full Council at the 17 April 2025 meeting.

    View the final Mount Iron RMP below.

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  • A big thank you to all that shared their views on this much loved-landmark - we received over 400 submissions from the community on the draft Mount Iron Reserve Management Plan (RMP)!

    You can view the online and written submissions on Let's Talk.

    See a summary of the submissions received during the formal consultation below.

    Following the public consultation close on 29 November 2024, we had 20 submitters speak to their submissions at a public hearing on 10 December with deliberations being held on 11 December. Listen to a recording here.

    All submissions will be considered by the hearing panel and used to make final changes to the RMP for Mount Iron Recreation Reserve.

    This plan will then be presented to the Wānaka-Upper Clutha Community Board for recommendation in March and to Full Council for adoption on 17 April 2025.

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  • The Department of Conservation (DOC) and QLDC have signed a management agreement that applies to the DOC land at Mount Iron from 1 May 2024. It outlines that DOC will continue to undertake all statutory requirements e.g., Regional Pest Management Strategy requirements, reserve closures and management of commercial activities, as set out in the Conservation Act. QLDC has taken on day-to-day management of the site e.g., signage, track maintenance and carpark maintenance.

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  • We are pleased to share a snapshot summary of the community insights gathered through our early engagement to help inform a draft RMP for Mount Iron. These include a range of comments that came from our workshops and discussions with the community.

    You can also read through all the ideas shared on our online interactive map tool, letters from community groups and every piece of information gathered on ‘stickies’, in the raw data, on Let’s Talk.

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Mount Iron Reserve Management Plan

The Mount Iron Reserve Management Plan (RMP) provides a community led vision for how the Mount Iron Reserve can be experienced and valued, now and into the future. The plan was adopted in April 2025 and guides Council officers in making day-to-day and long-term decisions about how the reserve is used, managed, or developed. It is a document prepared under the Reserves Act 1977.

The Mount Iron Reserve Management Plan only applies to the Council recreation reserve land on Mount Iron. It does not apply to the DOC scenic reserve land at Mount Iron. 

The Mount Iron RMP was developed through engagement with the Upper Clutha community. In 2023, the community came together to discuss what they wanted to see for the future of Mount Iron, and in 2024 over 400 people provided feedback on the draft plan.

QLDC Mt Iron Reserve Map A4 Nov23 WEB

Management of DOC land at Mount Iron

The Department of Conservation (DOC) administers approximately 55 hectares of scenic reserve land at Mount Iron. Council has applied to DOC to have the land legally ‘vested’ to Council. The application is currently being processed by DOC with an outcome likely to be known in 2026.  

If the vesting application is successful, Council will take over all management of the scenic reserve and will manage all the public land at Mount Iron as one reserve. The Reserve Management Plan would also apply to this land.

The day-to-day operational management of the DOC land is currently managed by Council. This follows a management agreement being signed by DOC and Council in May 2024. Council is responsible for things like the maintenance of routes including track upkeep, signage and safety notifications to the public. DOC retain their statutory responsibilities. 

Wildfire risk

The Mount Iron Reserve is subject to a year-round total fire ban. Since summer 2023-2024, Council has implemented a Wildfire Reserve Closure Plan for when fire indices reach extreme levels. This is to remove the potential for a fire to happen and ensure people are out of harm's way if it does.

For more information on how Council manages wildfire risk and how we'll let you know if a reserve is closed go to www.qldc.govt.nz/managing-wildfire-risk 

Get regular updates

If you'd like to be kept up to date with the latest information relating to Council's management of Mount Iron Reserve, we've created a newsletter to share information. 

Now that we have Reserve Management Plan for Mount Iron Recreation Reserve these newsletters will come out every three months to share happenings of interest.

Subscribe below to receive this update directly to your inbox!

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