The Queenstown Lakes District Council will consider a recommendation for the location of the Wanaka Sports Field Facility at the March meeting of Council, QLDC chief executive Debra Lawson said.

The report by QLDC general manager community services Paul Wilson was released early to allow the Wanaka community an opportunity to access the information. The recommendation to Councillors was to locate the facility, comprising indoor stadium, future aquatic centre and associated court facilities across land owned by two developers, Three Parks and North Three Parks.

“This is a hugely significant issue for the Wanaka community. It has been before the Council on a number of occasions, multiple reports have been prepared, public consultation has been ongoing since 2008 and there is no doubt, the decision will be tough,” Ms Lawson said.

Elements of the community are polarised as to whether the facility should be located at the Wanaka Showgrounds or at a green field site, whilst other elements were more concerned with getting on with it.

“I think we all agree that we need to ensure, whatever the outcome, we all work together to build a facility that we can all be proud of, that will serve current and future generations - that’s what I’m looking forward to,” Ms Lawson said.

When the sports facility came before the Council for a decision in August 2010, the sense was that more work needed to be done around the greenfield options.

Both Mr Wilson and general manager of policy and planning Phil Pannett had been tasked to take the Greenfield options further, addressing planning issues, development contribution, infrastructure and timing.

“The view was we needed to compare apples with apples,” Ms Lawson said.

The agenda item outlined how the agreement with Three Parks developer Willowridge Development Ltd and North Three Parks (owned in main by Ballantyne Investments Ltd) could work.

“A plus for the showgrounds site debate has always been that the land is already community-owned. The greenfields draft agreement proposes that a significant portion of the land required be vested in the Council by the developers. This would be an advance on future reserve land development contributions, which clearly makes the greenfields option viable also,” Ms Lawson said.

Willowridge had advised it would vest 3.5ha and Balantyne 1.2ha, leaving 0.8 to 1.1ha of land needing to be purchased at an estimated cost of $440,000. The report explores three options for the greenfields site, one of which would involve outright purchase of the land required from Ballantyne should its current Plan Change prove unsuccessful.

“There are challenges afforded to both the showgrounds (1-2 years to commencement) and the greenfields options (3-4 years to commencement) but we can now consider comparative construction, operating and revenue costs, economic benefits, transportation effects and risks associated with both,” Ms Lawson said.

“This is important for Wanaka. We know it is needed and we know that it cannot be built soon enough. It is time for us all to work together and focus on delivering a first class facility,” Ms Lawson said.

The March recommendation was to finalise the greenfield stakeholder agreement, issue a Notice of Requirement to designate the land for the facility and proceed to the next stage of feasibility to determine the nature, cost and timing of the various sports components.

The documents are now available to be viewed on the council website www.qldc.govt.nz (see link below).

ENDS

For further information please contact QLDC communications manager Meaghan Miller 03441 0499.

Timeline.

August 2008 – Report to Wanaka Community Board from Wanaka Sports Working Party, released for public consultation
September 2008 – Report to Wanaka Community Board from Aquatic Centre Working Party.
Reports prepared and released on:
• Co-location of aquatic and indoor facility.
• Feasibility of redevelopment of Wanaka Campground
• Transportation Effects Report
April 2009 – Council consulted on inclusion of funding for the facility in the 10-Year-Plan.
November 2009 – Report on technical assessment of Greenfield options (peer reviewed by NZ Recreation and Sports Associations). This report considered five greenfield options.
March 2010 Report to Council recommending the recommendation of the Wanaka Sports Facility Working Party to confirm the Showgrounds as a preferred location. Decision to prepare a concept design for showground and to further investigate greenfield option.
August 2010 – Report to Council on concept plans for showgrounds. Decision to leave designs on table and for Council staff to develop a draft agreement with developers in order to allow a true comparison of options.
March 2011 – Report to Full Council (to be held at Wanaka).

Link to Documents on QLDC Website

Link to Sportsfield Documents

By: Andrea Bunting