The Society's History

Thirty residents met in Queenstown in May 1965 and formed this Society, after the Borough Council planned to replace the old stone library.1 Within four years it had a second job. When the Ministry of Transport proposed taking the Earnslaw off the railways network, the Society argued that she could earn her keep as a tourist attraction, and Marygold Miller named the coming era in the Courier, “The Visitor Industry”.2

The 1970s taught it the limits of its influence to preserve historical landmarks. The Malthouse on the Buckham’s Brewery site came down on 9 June 1978,4 after a “dawn raid” by the Tourist Hotel Corporation.3 The Ombudsman found that issuing the permit without referring it to the full Council “was wrong”, and that he had no remedy.4 Three days later the Council resolved that no demolition permit be given for buildings the Society recommended as historic until the full Council considered it.4

The town changed faster than the rules did. In 2005 the Courier photographed an art deco building “demolished earlier this year to make way for car parking”,5 and four 80-year-old cypress and sequoia trees felled at Laurel Bank after the developer appealed against the consent protecting them.6

In 2004 the Society’s appeal to the Environment Court against the consent for the Ngāi Tahu development on the Courthouse and Post Office site was disallowed,8 Judge Sheppard confirming the effect on the precinct was “minor”.7 It cost $41,256 against a $22,500 Ministry for the Environment grant,7 and the auditor noted that costs awarded beyond the Society’s means would leave it technically insolvent.8 In the event the court ordered the Society to pay Ngāi Tahu only $5,000.13 Members donated almost $30,000 towards the $41,000 cost of the appeal.713

One lesson from the case was the importance of working with owners from an early stage rather than taking legal action. In the community the defeat bought what the court had not: by 2006 some developers and designers were consulting Society representatives early in their planning, “a benefit resulting from the Ngai Tahu challenge”,9 and by 2023 the Society observed that its role is in advocacy rather than as a campaigning group.10

Promotion of History. This is our major focus. By publishing the Courier magazines twice a year and making them available online and by having this website, we spread the word far and wide.

Through trips and meetings for members; by publishing books, calendars and brochures; by giving talks and presentations to other groups, and by collaborating with other heritage organisations, the Society promotes the knowledge and appreciation of our local history.

Cemetery tours and walkabouts encountering former residents began in the 1990s, and since 2015 members have met 34 past residents through “People From Our Past” presentations.11

Since 2018 we have installed information panels around the district, the first being outside the former Queenstown library.11 Others are installed along the Queenstown Trail and in other places where walkers and cyclists will see them.12

Our motto: Our Heritage Today – For Tomorrow.

Two stories go further into it: the library the Society was formed to save, and the Post Office appeal.