Lake levels in the district are continuing to recede, with Lake Wakatipu sitting at 311.077m and Lake Wānaka at 279.592m this morning. While they may rise slightly over the weekend – Lake Wānaka may peak on Monday at 279.9m – any increase will likely not be significant.

As such, Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) will be commencing clean-up operations in the Glenorchy, Kingston and Glendu Bay foreshore areas next week. QLDC teams and contractors are working hard to ensure all locations that are still closed, including playgrounds, can be reopened in good time for the Christmas break.

For precautionary reasons sandbags will remain in place until Monday, whereupon a further review will take place to assess the next steps and latest weather forecasts.

In Wānaka, QLDC Parks & Reserves staff are onsite working with community volunteers to progress the clean-up, and to try and get debris and driftwood cleared as quickly as possible. The Mount Aspiring carpark remains under water, but QLDC will attempt to pump the water out today in order to start drying the area out for use by vehicles over the Christmas break. Contractors will also be continuing the clean-up at Wānaka’s Dinosaur Park carpark today.

Ardmore Street between Dungarvon and McDougall Streets remains closed. Although good progress has been made in clearing the road the pedestrian pathway on the lakeside needs to be cleared. This is a priority for QLDC’s contractors, and attempts will be made to open it over the weekend. Mount Aspiring Road is currently open to the unsealed section approximately one kilometre past Treble Cone. Contractors are still working on the road, with the expectation that it will be fully open mid-next week.

The Queenstown CBD toilets are now fully open and others that were closed in the district are being assessed. QLDC is continuing to monitor several tracks and trails that remain underwater and assessing any risks to safety before considering opening any to the public.

Please be aware there is heavy equipment on location in several places, so it’s important to remember to be careful when in affected areas.

ENDS|KUA MUTU.

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