An increasingly popular side track off Queenstown’s Wye Creek Track, off the Kingston highway, has been closed to public access for safety reasons. Pioneer Energy, which operates a hydro scheme in the vicinity, yesterday closed pedestrian access across its Wye Creek dam and South Branch pipeline — which in turn leads to a helipad and the South Branch waterfall. Chief executive Peter McClean says public usage has surged in the past 12 months due to social media exposure. Though the primary purpose of the structures is worker access to the hydro scheme, about 12,000 people a year are now crossing the dam and pipeline. ‘‘At the moment, the track is not at a state where it’s really suitable for the volume of people that are going up there, and also the capability of people that are going up there. ‘‘I mean, we’ve got people going up there with footwear that I’d say is inappropriate to even get up to our assets.…