The owners of cribs in a fishing village which has existed for about 90 years next to the Kakanui River at Gemmells Crossing may be granted leases to occupy Department of Conservation land.
The department has advertised its intention to grant the owners of the 26 cribs 30-year leases to occupy the land and has called for public submissions which close on September 26 and, if needed, will be heard during the week starting October 10.
The Gemmells Crossing camp is on land reserved for a camping ground and originally administered by the Waitaki Acclimatisation Society which granted approval for the cribs.
That control in 1990 passed to the department when the society was abolished.
The camp and cribs have been managed through the Gemmells Crossing Camp Committee, which will continue if leases are granted.
The committee approached the department in 2009 to formalise the reserve status of the land and grant lease concessions for the individual cribs.
A report on the crib concessions prepared by the department's community relations manager Ken Stewart said the land was developed more than 90 years ago by the acclimatisation society as a fisherman's village with the construction of 26 cribs.
The cribs have no electricity supply and a single water supply from a bore fed by the river. The owners had maintained and landscaped the land.
Granting a lease would not give a crib owner exclusive use rights. Access to other cribs or by the general public would not be compromised. A special condition in the leases would keep the area accessible to the public.
Fees would be collected and Waitaki District rates paid by the camp committee.
