For more than 20 years, the Alexandra Clyde & Districts Business Group has been a staunch advocate for the towns south of the dam to be able to thrive again.

The group was formed because in the early 1990s everything changed, and the population explosion moved north to Cromwell, Wānaka and Queenstown once the Clyde dam was under way.

In the early 1980s, Alexandra once had the only supermarket in the entire Central Otago/Queenstown Lakes area, and everyone used to flock there to do their shopping.

“Alexandra was the fastest growing town in the South Island,” group member and local businessman Russell Ibbotson said.

He said before the new Countdown supermarket opened in Alexandra, many families used to, and some still do, drive to Queenstown regularly to shop at the bigger food retail stores for bulk deals.

But, the group was concerned that without strong population growth and new developments, the towns would lose future ground and government departments would move north.

In 2011 the business group took a petition signed by 1300 people to the Central Otago District Council asking for a more positive approach to economic development.

There have been several full page adverts taken out in local newspapers by the group outlining some of their concerns - the most recent one before Christmas.

They believe developments have continued to favour Cromwell over Alexandra, and that some retailers were struggling to meet operational costs because they just don’t get customers.

“If the towns (Alexandra and Clyde) do not have a strong and vibrant retail sector, businesses will be forced to close, which will then result in a loss of services available to the community.”

Deputy Mayor Neil Gillespie, who lives in Cromwell, said there was no evidence that he was aware of to support that claim about the council favouring his town, in any shape or form.

“If anything it’s our geographical location and that we’re part of the triangle with Wānaka and Queenstown, with main transport routes and being able to connect to the Upper Clutha and Wakatipu.

“Developers have made things happen because there has been that land available.”

The Alexandra Clyde & Districts Business Group was started by the late Alan McLellan - father of Rory McLellan, who is about to open The Finery in downtown Alexandra.

Rory was also involved with the Riverside Park development south of the new entertainment centre, which will link the township to the riverside by establishing a community and heritage greenspace and precinct.

The population of Alexandra in 2023 was 6120 and Clyde 1260. Cromwell’s population is 7160, with an extra 840 in Pisa Moorings and a further 610 in Bannockburn.