shania.funurl.com

Shania splits, access OK

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scene.co.nz
May 22, 2008
by Anika Forsman

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Happier times: Superstar songstress Shania Twain
chilling out in Queenstown

It’s splitsville for Shania Twain but public access over her Motatapu track should last longer than her marriage.

Sexy Canadian songstress Twain, 42, and music producer Robert “Mutt” Lange, 59, announced their separation last week after 14 years of being wed.

The separation comes less than two months after Twain was present at the official opening of the Motatapu track and the 29km easement of track and huts which the Langes gifted to New Zealand.

Motatapu is a local link to the 2100km Te Araroa Trail or “Long Pathway”, running from tip to toe of NZ.

Twain and Lange won approval to buy the leases to 25,000ha of rugged and scenic high-country land between Arrowtown and Wanaka – on the proviso they’d allow public access.

The couple have also maintained access for the increasingly popular annual Motatapu Icebreaker – this year’s event had a record number of nearly 3000 entrants, comprising mountain bikers and marathon runners.

The land easement suggested by the Government helped alleviate public fears of foreign investors locking up prime real estate for exclusive use.

The 33-year leases to Motatapu and Mt Soho stations cost the couple $21.4?million.

The Langes sparked further controversy over plans for a luxury homestead on the property – there were fears the development would tarnish the alpine landscape.

The couple, prior to the separation, had been splitting their time between their properties in NZ and Switzerland.

If the divorce forces the sale of their NZ land, the Department of Conservation says the deal to allow public access to the Motatapu track remains intact.

DoC’s Dunedin communications manager John Gordon won’t comment on the personal affairs of the Langes or speculate on whether the property may be sold.

“DoC and the Langes have signed an agreement between both parties covering this easement,” he says.

“It’s a legally binding agreement and at this stage there’s no threat to the public’s access along the Motatapu [if the property’s sold].”

Twain met Lange in 1993 when they collaborated on her first hit album The Woman In Me – they married six months later.

The reclusive music producer, who’s rarely photographed in public, was heavily involved with the success of Twain’s biggest-selling albums.

They have a six-year-old son, Eja.

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