Queenstown Lakes District Council believes the community will welcome the opportunity to begin making Marine Parade more attractive and accessible.

Chief Executive Mike Theelen said today that Marine Parade should be a showcase for the public spaces in Queenstown, providing a link between the gardens and the shopping precinct; a pleasant place for pedestrians to enjoy the lake views without dodging traffic and parked cars; and a safe route for cyclists coming on or off the lakeside trail.

“This type of outcome is something the Council set out in the Town Centre Transport Strategy that we adopted last year after extensive consultation, and reflects what the community asked for” Mr Theelen said. The strategy also includes many of the outcomes that Downtown Qt asked for.

“By doing some of the work while Skyline is completing the hotel development, we can transform Marine Parade into exactly that sort of environment earlier, at a lower cost and without having to first reinstate the street and footpath and then dig it up again later.”

What the Council has resolved requires Skyline to reinstate the streetscape and raise the levels of the footpath on the northern side of the road. At the same time, the Council has included $250,000 of funding in the annual plan to make the improvements necessary to make Marine Parade a shared pedestrian, cycle and vehicle space.

Mr Theelen said that while the change would ultimately mean a reduction of 15 carparks, this would not occur immediately. The Council had already committed to ensuring that there would be no nett loss of parking in the town centre until a longer term parking solution is in place.

“As an interim step, the 15 carparks on Marine Parade will be reinstated as soon as the worksite hoardings can be safely removed, and the carparks will stay in use over the busy winter season. We are working to free up alternative spaces to maintain overall carparking numbers before the rest of the street improvements begin later this year.

“QLDC recognises the tensions that exist around adequate carparking, circulation and creating a vibrant space through the town centre that encourages people to enjoy, linger and shop.”

Mr Theelen said the Council had proposed funding in the annual plan to initiate the first stage of the town centre strategy with a focus on carparking.

“The capital and work required to provide significant new carpark resources mean that this can never be rushed, while initiatives to support people to move away from relying on private vehicles will take considerable time to achieve. This is not an excuse for neglecting an opportunity to make improvements to the town centre in the meantime. The redevelopment of the Marine parade frontage has provided a unique opportunity to achieve several goals without lessening overall capacity for visitors.”

Elected members discussed this with representatives of the Chamber of Commerce this week. Mr Theelen acknowledged that QLDC should have been quicker to engage with stakeholders on this issue.

He reiterated that the resource consent for Skyline did require it to simply reinstate the road, paving and parking. That was option 1 in the report to last week’s meeting. “Elected members have been actively considering the issues around transport, accessibility and the downtown environment for months. They felt that reinstating Marine Parade exactly as it was before the hotel development started would have been a lost opportunity.”

The work that QLDC will fund is to remove the existing carparking, kerbs and channelling, and widen the footpath on the lakeside to 6.5m. This will give more room for pedestrians and create a more pleasant environment to showcase the lake. Mr Theelen said that QLDC viewed that as a win - win scenario.