High-profile firms admit guilt over Queenstown landslide

Otago Daily Times

4 days ago

Landslip debris covers Reavers Lane in Queenstown in 2023. PHOTO: RNZ
Nearly two years after heavy rain dislodged construction spoil near Skyline gondola's top station, three high-profile companies will be sentenced in December for their role in the landslip that wreaked havoc in Queenstown's Reavers Lane neighbourhood.
Following a long-running prosecution by Queenstown's council, Skyline Enterprises, Naylor Love Central Otago Ltd and Wilson Contractors Ltd have admitted charges brought under the Resource Management Act of breaching their consents.
The sentencing hearing will be held in the Christchurch District Court, despite the prosecution dragging on through a series of adjournments in Queenstown's court since October.
Mountain Scene understands the location of the hearing is down to court scheduling issues and the availability of the parties' legal counsel.
On September 22, 2023, during the highest 24-hour rainfall recorded in the resort town for decades, rock and soil excavated as part of the redevelopment of the gondola's top station was dislodged.
The material plunged down through the Ben Lomond Reserve and into the Reavers Lane neighbourhood.
A second slip under the gondola cableway, which deposited forestry slash and mud on to Queenstown's historic cemetery and surrounds, was not the subject of the prosecution.
However, more than 100 people were evacuated from the Reavers Lane and Brecon St areas, and a state of local emergency was in place for a day.
The slips, which prompted Skyline chief executive Geoff McDonald to apologise to the community, forced Queenstown Primary School, Whakatipu Kindergarten and BestStart Queenstown daycare to temporarily close and blocked access to the Queenstown Medical Centre in Isle St.
Queenstown council officers executed a search warrant at Skyline's Camp St headquarters 12 months ago.
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