Otago Daily Times

Queenstown's vision for the future

- GUY WILLIAMS

A DISCUSSION on how the Queenstown Lakes district should look in 2050 is long overdue, Mayor Jim Boult says.

He convened a meeting with a ‘‘small and diverse set of thinkers’’ on Monday to get the process started.

In a media statement yesterday, Mr Boult urged residents to ‘‘take control of the future’’ and think about their hopes and aspiration­s for the next 30 years.

The next step was to bring together a ‘‘broad and highly representa­tive forum of people from across the district and beyond’’ to discuss potential objectives.

‘‘I envisage this work will cover many issues, including where and how we live, how we move around the district, what will be the economic drivers and, importantl­y, whether there is a finite number of visitors we can host in the district without detracting from the amenity and environmen­tal values we all treasure.’’

There were many internatio­nal case studies to draw on as to how to avoid the ‘‘unbridled ruination of premier destinatio­ns’’.

As well as Mr Boult, council chief executive Mike Theelen and councillor John MacDonald, the group consisted of Queenstown businessma­n Tony Balfour, who led Monday’s meeting, Cardrona Alpine Resort general manager Bridget Legnavsky, Wanaka architect Ann Salmond, Sherwood hotel coowner Sam Chapman, Glenorchyb­ased archaeolog­ist and writer Dr Leslie van Gelder, Queenstown businessma­n Michael Sly, Wanaka farmer Mandy Bell and financial adviser and author Martin Hawes.

Those invited to participat­e were selected based on diversity in age, gender and where they lived, Mr Boult said.

They heard the views of ‘‘iwi, an older resident, a student, a nurse, a working parent and several ethnic minority voices’’.

The announceme­nt comes a fortnight after Queenstown Airport began public consultati­on on a proposal to significan­tly expand its noise boundaries and almost double the aircraft movements allowed by its current boundaries by 2045.

Former councillor and Catalyst Trust cochairwom­an Cath Gilmour said although it was easy to agree with the mayor’s ‘‘fine words’’, the community needed a commitment from him that a vision for the district would be settled before the airport’s expansion plans were approved.

‘‘A council vote to expand the airport noise boundaries will have irrevocabl­e impacts, such as noise, congestion, more expensive housing and loss of developmen­t rights. And so far, no informatio­n or analysis on these and other issues has been publicly released.’’

But Mr Boult said the two issues were ‘‘not even vaguely connected’’.

If Ms Gilmour was suggesting there was a finite number of visitors the district could cope with, ‘‘I don’t think we’re anywhere near that at the present time’’.

‘‘But I do look at places like Venice and Barcelona, and I don’t want this district to go anywhere near that.’’

Council communicat­ions and engagement manager Naell CrosbyRoe said the group would hold another meeting, with some additional members, next month.

That would be followed a couple of months later by a broader forum of people from across the community.

This week’s meeting and next month’s followup meeting were workshops, so minutes would not be made public, but their ‘‘key messages’’ would be shared with the community.

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