Uncertainty looms for Lakeview holiday park residents

QUEENSTOWN Chamber of Commerce chief executive Anna Mickell is unsure how a planned council project will affect residents in the resort.

The Queenstown Lakes District Council will hold a workshop in July to help a group of Lakeview holiday park residents find new accommodation in Queenstown.

It follows the council’s announcement earlier this month it had selected its preferred development partners for the Lakeview site — Melbournebased developer NinetyFour Feet, Aucklandbased investment company Augusta Capital and the Britomart Hospitality Group — and intended to formalise development plans soon.

In an email update to chamber members yesterday, she said she did not know the extent to which that might affect the resort’s workforce.

‘‘Most of the tenants in the holiday park are permanent residents and we feel that many may be working in the Queenstown Lakes community.

‘‘The chamber is aware that finding housing at a similar price point may be difficult for this group of residents.

‘‘As labour supply continues to be very tight, we want to make sure that we keep as many of these residents living and working locally.

‘‘QLDC have proposed a workshop in July to assist this group of residents (or employees) find new accommodation and the chamber will assist in this process where required.’’

Tenants occupying the 165 cabins were advised last week the first stage would include constructing new roads and other utilities infrastructure through the majority of the site.

‘‘Not all the land will be developed at once.

‘‘A small number of cabins will be retained by QLDC in the undeveloped areas, and used for short to mediumterm accommodation for those Lakeview tenants with priority housing needs.’’

It is not clear how many cabins will remain.

All tenants were advised they could apply for a new lease in one of the remaining cabins. However, unless they qualified for a needsbased exemption, they would need to vacate by late October.

The Queenstown Lakes Community Housing Trust and Ministry of Social Development would assess applicants to allocate new leases to those with the ‘‘highest priority housing needs’’.

All tenants would be advised in July whether they had been granted a new lease or would need to vacate, after which the workshop with local rental agents would be held.