‘Victory’: Upper Selwyn Huts settlement gets 30-year reprieve

Wednesday, 17 September 2025

Selwyn District Council have confirmed the Upper Selwyn Huts settlement near Te Waihora Lake Ellesmere will receive a 30-year licence of occupation.

Upper Selwyn Huts residents will be able to keep living in their homes on the banks of the Selwyn River for another 30 years.

The reprieve was a hard-fought battle by the majority of the residents, who refused to go quietly when Selwyn District Council began discussing not renewing their deeds of licence in 2019.

Selwyn Huts residents celebrate after hearing they can keep living in their homes for another 30 years.

Hut owners at Upper Selwyn Huts lease the land their huts are on in the Springston South Reserve from the Crown. The licences are administered by the council.

The first huts were built in 1888 and licences were given for recreational fishing purposes to stay on the land for about nine months of the year. They changed to “permanent” licences after the Canterbury earthquakes to five-year terms, with renewal at the discretion of the council.

Residents in the council chambers on Wednesday applauded as elected members confirmed the a 30-year licence would be available from July 1, 2026.

Upper Selwyn Huts settlement is nestled beside the Selwyn River near Te Waihora Lake Ellesmere. (FIle photo)

Kirrily Fea, the spokesperson for the Selwyn Hut Owners’ Association, said it was a “real victory”.

“It’s a mixed feeling, because it’s a huge relief and satisfaction that we’ve been heard, but also frustrating that we had to go through this in the first place.

“If proper consultation had happened then this wouldn’t have happened, and you can’t underestimate the amount of stress we have been through.”

A clause was included to review the licences in consultation with the hut residents after 20 years to decide if it should be extended, but Fea said it was “fantastic” to be out of the eviction limbo.

There would not be any independent building inspection obligations placed on the licence holders, and environmental assessments must be updated every 10 years.

The final deeds of licence will be prepared after the 2026/27 Annual Plan consultation, which will confirm an updated licence fee.

A letter from Selwyn Huts Owners’ Association, read by mayor Sam Broughton at the meeting, said the community requested a formal arrangement be put in place to ensure any future issues were worked through collaboratively.

Kirrily Fea, left, is the spokesperson for the Selwyn Hut Owners’ Association. She has been at the helm of the community’s fight to keep their licences. (File photo)

“It’s been an incredibly difficult 18 months for our residents and we sincerely hope lessons learned during this process are acknowledged and improved on for the future,” the letter read.

Councillor and mayor hopeful Lydia Gliddon said she was in support of the decision, and apologised to the hut residents for the stress they had endured as the council decided their fate.

“It provides stability, fairness and security and allows council to respond to any change in environmental conditions, if there are any.”

Outgoing councillor Grant Miller was concerned the council had taken the “easy way out” and “kicked the can” down the road.

“While this provides a degree of certainty for the hut owners, I fear that this is just again pushing this issue in 20 years time. Either these people here or their descendants … will be in the same spot.

“The only thing we can hope for is [that] the council of the day does a better job of going through that process than we did.”