Partial closures of Wānaka's Mt Iron will be lifted from tomorrow, amid criticism of a lack of signage to inform the public about them.
The Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) said today it planned to lift the closures from 6am tomorrow.
It said the fire indices which indicate levels to trigger a closure were forecast to drop and would allow for safe access to the reserve.
QLDC General Manager Community Services Ken Bailey said he thanked residents and visitors for their cooperation during the part-day closures implemented over the past three days.
“We will continue to monitor weather conditions closely over the summer period and future closures may be needed if fire indices show an extreme risk of wildfires for reserves in the district.
"Whilst ensuring reserves are accessible for everyone to enjoy, we need to take appropriate steps to manage them to reduce the potential for a fire to happen. When wildfire conditions are assessed to be ‘extreme’ it is vital to properly manage any potential risk to life and community safety,” Mr Bailey said.
Wānaka's fire chief earlier criticised the council for a lack of signs informing the public of the closure, saying "if they’re going to do it, then they probably should do it properly".
The comments came as Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Fenz) placed heightened fire restrictions on several parts of Otago today, including Waitaki, as the region experiences a stretch of perilously dry weather.
Mt Iron, which has been identified by the council as being an extreme wildfire threat, had its access reduced to the mornings, from 6am to noon, since Thursday.
Speaking to the Otago Daily Times, Wānaka fire chief Tony Wellman said signage at Mount Iron Recreational Reserve, which only referred to "extreme fire danger" and encouraged people to scan a QR code for "potential reserve closures", did not go far enough.
"They need to put lots of signage saying that it’s closed between these hours for sure," he said.
"You’d think that would be the first thing they would do."
He would be following up through Fenz to see whether signage could be improved, Mr Wellman said.
Early on Thursday afternoon, the Otago Daily Times observed more than 20 vehicles parked near the main entrance on the Wānaka-Luggate highway, as dozens of people continued to make their way through the reserve, many on their way to the summit.
One man, a resident of Luggate who asked not to be named, said he was not aware of the closure, but questioned how much of an added risk walkers would pose.
"I see someone cutting their grass and causing a spark as more of a hazard, you know?"
Another group, a family on holiday from Dunedin, were surprised to learn of the closure, but said it would not deter them from making a trip to the summit.
QLDC spokesman Sam White said there would not be a council presence on the reserve during the periods when it was closed, and that entering would be at "people’s own risk".
"We ask them to take personal responsibility by abiding by signage and other communications about current and future reserve closures," he said.
The "extreme fire danger" signs were up all the time to warn people of the potential fire danger, but separate red signs were put up at eight locations around the reserve during periods when the reserve was closed, Mr White said.
Despite this, no such signs were visible at three of the reserve’s entry points either on Thursday or yesterday.
Mr White said the council’s parks team were also producing signage that made specific reference to the hours of closure, and these would be in place "shortly".
This was not the first time the Queenstown Lakes District Council had been questioned over its efforts to inform the public of Mt Iron’s fire risk.
Last month, Hidden Hills Residents Association chairwoman Megan Davies said a report for the QLDC that showed not enough was being done to reduce the risk of a "disastrous" wildfire on Mt Iron needed to be made public.
"If a wildfire were to start anywhere on Mt Iron, the speed of the spread would be phenomenal," she said.
"What can walkers on Mt Iron do if the fire goes from the bottom to the top? In the worst-case scenario we’ve been told that could be seven minutes."
The report, which was completed in November 2022, investigated the fire danger of 30 reserves in the Queenstown Lakes district.
Mt Iron and Ben Lomond in Queenstown were the only reserves in the "extreme" risk category.
