It covers an area of 135 ha (330 acres) of Tasman District Council land, including Tunnicliff Forest and the Wai-iti Recreation Reserve.

[4] The application for the dark sky park status was prepared by the Top of the South Dark Sky committee, a group associated with the Nelson Science Society Astronomy Section.

[6] In July 2023, the Top of the South Dark Sky Committee warned the District Council that the Dark Sky Park accreditation was at risk because there had been a 150% increase in light pollution in the park over a period of three years.

At the time of the application for accreditation, the District Council had agreed to a lighting management plan, but as of 2023, this had not been implemented.

The advocates for the Dark Sky Park urged that luminaires in sensitive areas be refitted with 2200K amber phosphorus LEDs.