Strong opposition and calls to reconsider

A council hearings panel which heard some 30 of the 178 submitters to details surrounding its proposed Stanley Street Project Manawa civic offices deal had its work cut out to find too much support earlier this week.

The councillor panel of Lyal Cocks (chair), Melissa White and ‘Ferg’ Ferguson is now in deliberation after hearing many concerns from the local business, tourism, arts and cultural and residential communities on the two consultation topics surrounding the proposal. More than 70% of those heard were in opposition.

The council was consulting on two major points – its proposed land swap strategy between one of its Frankton reserve areas and the Stanley Street site, and its proposal for joint ownership with Ngai Tahu Property in the new office complex. Ngai Tahu would become landlord and the council tenant.

However, despite this most of the concerns aired appeared to be targeted at the CBD location of the proposed complex, citing the huge population growth and locals’ focus beyond Frankton Road amid major concerns about even more serious bottlenecks on that already congested road. With some 600 council staff added to the mix downtown carparking would also be placed under even more immense pressure, submitters say.

Claims that the council is locked into the CBD location due to decisions from predecessors were challenged, highly respected former council manager and planning expert Brian Fitzpatrick among them. He urged the council not to “pretend the final decision has been made” saying it was mandatory for local authorities to look at other options. He said the Frankton reserve land that the council needs to swap out for part of the Stanley Street site for the deal to proceed would far better serve the community if it was given to the Queenstown Community Housing Trust for affordable housing, or used to build “another Abbeyfield”.

Entertainer and producer Margaret O’Hanlon represented ‘voices of Queenstown past’ – the Queenstown Performing Arts Centre Trust which used to be based on the site with the Queenstown Arts Society. She urged the council to keep its promise of a purpose-built theatre and arts centre for ‘presentation and performance’ on that site. “We were told when we moved off that site it was to be the heart and soul of our community,” she said. “But when the sun goes down no-one is hanging around a council building.” The arts community had felt ‘despondency, outrage and a loss of hope’ at the proposal, while business leaders like Destination Queenstown boss Mat Woods and Chamber of Commerce CEO Sharon Fifield wanted more information and time to consider the options with the submission period not well timed just prior to Christmas.

There was plenty of comment concentrating on the Frankton options, including a series of viable, more economically sound options from former councillor Cath Gilmour and others, including the four past mayors who oppose the downtown location of the proposal. Among them Vanessa van Uden and highly respected businessman Sir John Davies urged the council to reconsider, delay and look at more practical Frankton land options, citing its recently-purchased Ladies Mile site.

However, Cr Matt Wong says there were “varying degrees of openness” to the project. “The general theme of the hearings was ‘have a hard look at it,” he says. “I’m a new councillor but there seems to be a lot of history to plans for new civic offices downtown. If there was an easy fix it would’ve been done by now.” He was impressed by the extent of ‘well clued-up speakers’ backing their submissions.

Cr Esther Whitehead spent the day at the Manawa hearings listening to the community.

“It seemed to me that the majority of submitters reached the same position as one another without co-ordinating their responses. The weight of submissions which were heard were opposed to the two consultation topics.” She says she’s grateful for those who took time to research, submit and be heard.

The panel is now deliberating on any feedback to the two areas of consultation and will make recommendations that will be presented to the full council in early April.