Meeting secures access to road and recreation reserve

George Berry
George Berry
Access along Falstone Rd to the popular Falstone camping reserve on the shore of Lake Benmore has now been guaranteed after discussions held in Oamaru last week.

The access was closed on November 12 when owner Ben Aubrey of the Glencairn property which it runs through closed off access.

That resulted in access being denied to campers and a crew working on the Kingdom Come film set at the reserve.

Mr Aubrey said he had not closed the road, but was denying public access to his farm because of a dispute over land ownership dating back to when the Benmore dam was built in the 1960s.

Last Thursday, the Aubrey family, their solicitor George Berry, the Waitaki District Council, Crown representatives and other parties met in Oamaru to discuss Falstone Rd and the long-running dispute.

Yesterday, Land Information New Zealand issued a joint statement on behalf of the Crown and the Aubrey family.

It said the meeting was "productive" and had agreed on a way forward to resolve issues regarding access to Falstone Rd and other related matters.

Mr Berry said the Aubrey family would work with the council and would not be taking any further action which might limit access to the Falstone reserve.

"The meeting was very satisfactory and we appreciate the hard work Crown officials and the council have put into what are very complex legal and survey issues that date back to the Waitaki power scheme," he said.

Mr Aubrey's's Glencairn lease is for Otago University endowment land administered under a pastoral lease by the Commissioner of Crown Lands.

Land from the lease was acquired under the Public Works Act for hydro-electric development and now held as Crown land so an operating easement could be put in place for Meridian to operate Lake Benmore.

Until the easement was in place, no decision could be made on the future of the remaining land taken by the Crown for hydro-electric development.

The legal work had nearly been completed, which meant the use of remaining land could be considered.

 

 

Add a Comment