This is so lovely!
Dick And Jillian Jardine have handed a stunning 900 hectares plot of land by Lake Wakatipu to the national trust, so all New Zealanders can enjoy its beauty. [Featured Image: Sulthan Auliya, Unsplash].
They turned down offers from developers, claiming this was “the right thing to do”.
The “Remarkables” land – stretching from the edge of Lake Wakatipu to the crown – will become open for anyone to drink it in from 2022. They gifted it to the Queen Elizabeth II National Trust for “the benefit and enjoyment of all New Zealanders”.
Dick and Jillian Jardine’s family have worked the Remarkables station for the last 98 years, and said they wish to see it preserved and enjoyed for another 100 years.
Speaking to The Guardian, Jill Jardine said their family had discussed this decision for four years in the buildup.
“We thought about this idea and it just stuck so it feels like the right thing to do,” she said. “We want to keep it as it is forever, we don’t want buildings all over it or housing, there’s so much housing going in … we want to be part of saving something.”
They reportedly declined offers from multiple overseas developers.
The Trust’s chairman, Bruce Wills, said the donation was “hugely significant for the Wakatipu area and wider New Zealand.”
“Open landscapes in the Wakatipu basin have come under increasing pressure from subdivision and commercial development driven by the twin pressures of population growth and tourism.
“But the wide-open landscapes of the district are the very values that have attracted both tourists and new residents to the area.”
Despite many billionaires owning areas around this land, this piece of nature will remain a gift to the nation for the foreseeable future. Well done, Dick and Jillian!