Queenstown's plans for attracting business visitors, reducing congestion and spreading costs

Convention Centre
The Council is proposing the development of an international standard convention centre with 750 person (seated) capacity at Lakeview. The convention centre will attract business tourists who tend to stay longer than other visitors and spend significantly more each day.

Reducing private vehicle movements
The district’s population growth and national and international reputation as a visitor destination are putting pressure on the roading network. Several pinch points are occurring around Frankton as well as in central Queenstown.

Modelling shows that by reducing by 20 percent the number of private vehicle movements in and out of central Queenstown each day: the town centre will be a more pleasant and better business environment; peak congestion will be eased; and the need for significant expenditure on roading will be deferred beyond 2025.

The draft Transport Strategy for the Queenstown Town Centre is based on encouraging commuters and visitors to choose alternative means of transport to private vehicles and rental cars to make the journey into central Queenstown.

This would be achieved through a combination of activities:

• Working with the Otago Regional Council to invest in public transport so it is more affordable and convenient
• Making relatively minor changes to roads, crossings, footpaths and tracks to make cycling and walking easier and safer
• Improving intersections and crossings
• Making all day parking more expensive and less convenient in downtown Queenstown.
  
  

This approach should have a neutral impact on rates, with increased parking charges used to fund passenger transport incentives.

Standardising rates for water and wastewater
The charges for water and wastewater services vary considerably and smaller schemes tend to cost more per ratepayer than the larger urban schemes.

The Council proposes to group all the direct operating costs for the schemes within a ward and divide them across all the ratepayers serviced by the scheme in that ward.

There would be an overall transfer of costs from the smaller schemes to the larger ones. Ratepayers in Luggate, Lake Hayes and Glenorchy would all benefit significantly. This is largely at the expense of ratepayers in Arrowtown and Wanaka.

Queenstown Lakes District statistics
Queenstown is experiencing continued population growth, both in terms of residents and visitor numbers, as outlined below:

• Average population in 2015 is 47,800
• Peak population in 2015 is 96,500
• Resident population (average day) in 2015 is 17,100.

By 2025 the district is expected to have an average population of 57,000 and a peak population of 115,500.

​The Council also has a vigorous debt reduction strategy, and predicted levels of debt have fallen from $393 million (in the 2009 LTP) to $134 million in the 2015 LTP.


Information source: The information in this article is from the Queenstown Lakes District Council 10 Year Plan 2015-2025 Consultation Document.