The Queenstown Lakes District Council has agreed to the transfer of ownership of the Glenorchy airstrip from the Department of Conservation to the council.
The agreement followed requests from Glenorchy residents and community association chairman Peter Reid, who spoke during the public forum before the council's meeting on Thursday.
It was agreed the council would receive the reserve and airstrip ''to allow the continued usage of the reserve and airstrip at the current operational levels''.
The council also agreed to accept the terms proposed by the Queenstown Airport Corporation (QAC), after the council asked the corporation to assist with managing the strip.
Terms include limiting management and operational staff time to one week a year, costs from repairs or upgrades to be borne by the council and resource management and planning matters to be the responsibility of the council.
The arrangement will be reviewed annually and if costs exceed $4000 a year, QAC would review whether it requires a management fee for the services it has proposed not to charge for, including site visits, liaising with users and minor housekeeping.
In August 2011 the council agreed in principle to accept the transfer of the airstrip, but in December 2012 it declined the transfer after councillors decided more information was needed.
Feedback from Glenorchy residents in 2011 revealed the vast majority were in favour of a transfer to the council.
During the public forum, Glenorchy resident John Glover said a concern in the community was that Doc did not want the strip and there was no management apart from through the concession process.
Skydive Paradise managing director Lindsay Williams said he would like to see some development at the strip, such as an aircraft hangar.
At the meeting on Thursday the council also decided that a reserve management plan for the airstrip would be notified by December 2014 and a representative selected by the community association and the councillor designated to the association be appointed to act as liaison between the community and the Queenstown Airport Corporation.
