18 | Morton Property Group: Mt Cardrona Station T T Virginia Wright Vision comes to life in Cardrona Valley REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT The large tract of land that was formerly a high-country sheep station through the Cardrona Valley has seen significant change in the last 50 or so years since it was bought by John and Mary Lee. John Lee went on to develop the Cardrona Skifield and kept all the land above the road, but the 400 or so hectares of land below remained a sheep station for another 40 years. Bought by the Morton Property Group in 2005, that land is slowly being transformed, as a vision shared by Chris Morton and his business partner Andrew Spencer takes shape. Considered to be the first of its kind in New Zealand, Mt Cardrona Station is described as “a rare opportunity”. It will offer “master-planned residential living, visitor accommodation, and a central village with facilities for fuelling mountain adventures come together in one spectacular high-country community”. It is an area close to Chris Morton’s heart, and Mt Cardrona Station brings together various strands of his life. He is an engineer by trade, who has also climbed, skied and tramped all through the Southern Alps. “I love the mountains and the outdoors, and I’m a landscape photographer as well. I always think half of skiing is just being up there and getting that alpine fresh air, and if it wasn’t for skiing a lot of people would never get there,” he says. Perhaps that is why part of his vision of Mt Cardrona Station is to open up a vast tract of what has historically been private land to a much wider community, while remaining very aware of those who live there already. Cardrona Valley now has its own fully functioning Three Waters scheme, paid for by Mt Cardrona Station, but owned and run by the Queenstown Lakes District Council. It is the development’s way of giving back to the community, ties in nicely with their first six houses being finished and moved into by their owners, and ensures that not only they, but everyone in the valley, will have access to clean fresh water that meets the new regulatory standards. Only last year, the land still had stock on it, but recently the team decided to destock it and join their 400 hectares with the Southern Lakes 660 hectares to be managed for biosecurity throughout the area. “Our first traps are in place and we’ve started doing a lot of re-vegetation and planting of the land,” Chris says with satisfaction. As an owner you gain access to and become fellow guardians of the eco-sanctuary, he says. By the beginning of December, a provisional 30kms of bike and walking trails will be complete, ready to play their part in the overall vision of Mt Cardrona Station not only being a great place for people to be, but also for them to enjoy a wide range of outdoor activities. That access doesn’t come without the comforts of modern living, though. When asked what you do if you are in Cardrona, Chris replies. “When you get up in the morning you can either go and walk for five minutes and have a coffee, or walk for five hours to the back of the station where we’re putting some musterers’ huts, if you want a bit of exercise.” Not only that, Chris says, but you have the choice of Wanaka 20 minutes away by car, or Arrowtown and Queenstown, a 30- and 45-minute drive over the Crown Range respectively. Or, it is an easy 12 minutes to the Valley View car park with its lift access to the Cardrona ski field avoiding the need to drive all the way up their access road. By the time the Mt Cardrona Station development is complete, a central homestead complex with a gym, a sauna, hot pools and shared office facilities, full restaurant and bar as well as a members-only club room will be available: all part and parcel of what you can use as an owner, or as a short-term stayer using one of the apartments managed on behalf of owners wanting to bring in some income. “To say you’ll be spoilt for choice hardly does it justice,” says Chris. CLARK FORTUNE McDONALD LAND SURVEYORS - LAND DEVELOPMENT - PLANNING CONSULTANTS QUEENSTOWN | DUNEDIN | CHRISTCHURCH | GORE www.cmfa.co.nz
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