Hot pools plan for Cardrona
A $24 MILLION hotpool and accommodation complex is being proposed for Cardrona village, and it is hoped construction can start within two years.
The complex, on a 6600sq m section just a couple of hundred metres from the Cardrona Hotel next to Cardrona Valley Rd, will include 12 hot pools and tubs, 16 apartments, a cafe, and two retail ‘‘manufacturing hubs’’, where products will be made, packaged and sold on site.
Resource consent for the complex is set to be applied for by Queenstown company Metta Collective Ltd, later this month.
Director Bridget BodieHealy said the concept came from seeing an opportunity for the village to create its own unique identity that was different to both Wanaka and Queenstown.
‘‘After more than 12 months of planning, endless design changes and consultation with locals, we feel the concept finally achieves the right balance.’’
Another director, who wished to remain anonymous, said yesterday it was aimed at being a drawcard attraction for the village and to make the most of the visitor traffic driving by every day.
‘‘It’s been a little village that’s stuttered along and hasn’t really had anything to capitalise on the tourist trade that whizzes past.’’
The director also said it filled a gap in the district’s tourism market.
‘‘We love hot pools but there’s just nothing here in Queenstown.
‘‘You look at research — a lot of the Asian tourists, probably the second thing they look for is a hot pool.
‘‘We just felt there was an opportunity to put something in that could be of benefit to the village and the people in it.’’
They were confident of getting resource consent as the complex ‘‘nestles into the topography’’ and was located in a rural visitor zone which promoted tourism activities.
Cardrona Valley Residents and Ratepayers Society chairman Blyth Adams said the community had given its backing to the project.
‘‘We’re all right behind it; we’re really supportive of it.’’