A decision on whether anyone will be prosecuted for a recent burn-off at Wanaka's Hillend Station is still some weeks away.
On October 21, a controlled burn at the station blanketed the town in smoke and prompted complaints to the Otago Regional Council.
The council subsequently carried out an investigation into the burn, which had been authorised by the Otago Rural Fire Authority and advertised publicly.
Its purpose was to clear dead wilding pines and sprayed bracken fern and to reduce summer fire risk.
ORC environmental monitoring and operations director Jeff Donaldson said yesterday the council's initial phase of investigation into the burn-off was complete.
However, a decision on whether an infringement notice would be issued or a prosecution laid was still pending and would not be made before Christmas.
''It's basically with our lawyers, to determine whether there's a case to answer or not ... they might ask us to do another couple of interviews or they might ask us to do some other investigation work ... and then the decision is made after that.''
The council had six months to complete its overall investigation.
The property is owned by TradeMe founder Sam Morgan and managed by Mike Scurr.
