Four months ago, the Waitaki District Council Reserves and Other Land Empowering Act overturned a long-standing clerical error and clarified the status of a 5.8ha area of land at Forrester Heights as endowment land, but six weeks ago the Waitaki Concerned Citizens and Ratepayers Association put forward a petition that wanted the Waitaki District Council to make the whole of Cape Wanbrow, including Forrester Heights, into a nature reserve.
However, mayoral candidate and former Waitaki deputy mayor Gary Kircher this week expressed concern about some of the information that was given to people when they were asked to sign the petition.
''The biggest piece of misinformation was the reference to Lookout Point. It is the petitioner's contention that the land including the Lookout area, is all at risk of being sold.
''While I was on council, that was never an option and I found it very difficult to believe that it would be considered by the current council. Having the petitioners claim that that land is at risk would probably see 95% of people sign the petition.''
Mr Kircher was the deputy mayor at the time the clerical error, which wrongly classified Forrester Heights as reserve land, was discovered, after the council proposed a 22-section subdivision on the land in 2006, but he said he had no ''vested interest'' in developing the area.
''According to some other scuttlebutt, I am fronting some of our wealthy citizens who want it to happen. That is absolutely not the case.''
He said he had been asked to sign the petition, but had declined.
Association chairman Warren Crawford said the petition aimed to preserve all ''Forrester Heights land''. He noted a walkway ran from Lookout Point to Cape Wanbrow, which meant the areas ''were not separated by anything''.
''We believe that with the walkway through Lookout Point to the cape the whole thing is connected, and Forrester Heights is only part of the entire cape.''
He said signatures would be sought until late August, before the petition was presented to the council in September.
About 360 signatures had been collected so far, he said.
