A public drop-in session last Thursday evening (June 17) attracted only a few people to discuss the council’s proposed community facility strategy, which provides a framework for future planning and funding of local community facilities.

The session was hosted by Queenstown Lakes District Council sport and recreation manager Simon Battrick. He said the council already had a fairly clear picture of the sports facilities required for the district (gleaned from a number of recent sports strategies and masterplans) but wanted to hear from the public about priorities around recreational, cultural, heritage and other facilities.

“The idea behind the strategy essentially is to say here's a framework for how we as council can respond and how the private sector or and other groups can respond to it as well because we're only one player in this market; we've got churches and we've got sports clubs and they have community facilities too.” 

“It's not rocket science,” he said. “We know what the needs are but how do we respond [to those needs].” 

The strategy is also a framework for councillors to understand the criteria around what will attract council investment and why one project will be funded while another won’t, Simon said.

The draft strategy has been created by consultants and QLDC staff and is based on national benchmarks for the development of community facilities. 

Simon Battrick (centre) shares a light-hearted moment during the community facilities drop-in session with former deputy mayor Lyal Cocks and Wanaka councillor Niamh Shaw.

It outlines measures to provide appropriate community facilities within neighborhoods, towns, districts and regions, as well as integrating council facilities with private facilities and reducing ad hoc development of venues. 

Simon denied it was a “one-size-fits-all” approach, saying, while the strategy was designed to provide guidance for council staff and elected members, there would still be flexibility to consider community options outside of the strategy framework.

“These are not hard and fast rules. This is a guide and a framework for counselors to make the best decision based on the evidence that will be presented to them,” Simon said.

Local resident John Wellington, who’s active with the Upper Clutha Trails Trust, questioned whether the proposed strategy would put funding of community facilities in the Upper Clutha on a level playing field with Queenstown. 

John said the draft 10-year Plan 2021-31 was a “shocking” example of the inequality of funding between the Wakatipu and the Upper Clutha and he saw nothing in the strategy document to reassure him.

Simon wouldn’t be drawn on a direct response but said: ”I think there is very much a balancing act that needs to be happening.” 

He said there will only ever be a limited amount of ratepayer funding for community facilities but the strategy allowed council to “think outside the square”; to talk to grants providers like the Central Lakes Trust and other philanthropic funders “to see how we can create opportunities, so we can get some of these things done”. 

Councillor Niamh Shaw was the only elected member to attend the drop in session and she spoke in favour of the strategy as it encouraged groups to collaborate to achieve a successful outcome.

“Most organisations want roughly the same sort of thing from council [but they’re] all pulling in slightly different directions and I would just love to be able to bring these organisations, who are competing on so many levels for funding, for attention, for whatever it is they want from council, to collaborate and work better together,” she said. 

Public submissions on the draft strategy opened almost three weeks ago but, to date the response has been minimal, Simon said. Submissions were still welcome until June 22 via the council’s Let’sTalk page. 

PHOTO: Wanaka App