Dunstan ward Otago regional councillor Alexa Forbes said the response from the community about her not standing again this October have been positive, and made her feel that her efforts have been recognised.

The Queenstown-based regional councillor was more ‘green’ than her fellow Dunstan ward elected members Michael Laws and Gary Kelliher, and was disappointed when the new National Government intervened in the Regional Land and Water Plan.

Cr Forbes said she was most proud of representing the headwaters and shining a light on the issues and opportunities there. 

“Te uta te tai – from mountains to sea, this is the system approach and we’re seeing a recognition of this in our council.”

However, that was not all of her work alone, and she really wanted to acknowledge Kai Tahu “who have thought about that for generations and been generous in imparting their knowledge and expertise,” and also her fellow councillors, chair and chief executive who have been willing to work on understanding the issues faced in the Upper Lakes area. 

She was also proud of what she’d achieved in public transport despite huge barriers.

“I really see public transport as the way forward for QLDC and CODC transport issues (currently Queenstown is experiencing dreadful congestion, but it will hit our other towns in due course if we don’t solve the problem).”

She said in such constrained geographical areas - particularly Queenstown - communities couldn’t keep building more roads and parking, and another solution was needed.

“Cable ways are in the future, but planning will need to ensure people can get to the cable way stations.”

She was really disappointed by the New Zealand Transport Authority Waka Kotahi (NZTA) failure to provide agreed active transport – the A7 trail between Jacks Point and Frankton and the Jim’s Way to Hardware Lane pedestrian/cycle bridge were examples. 

“Public transport won’t work properly if people can’t safely get to bus stops. Every bus trip starts with a walk, cycle or scooter trip so this network is essential if we are to provide an alternative to the private car.”

Cr Forbes advocated for better environmental outcomes for Lakes Wakatipu and Wanaka. FILE SHOT

Cr Forbes was also very sad to have seen what she described as “the first slip” in the environmental status of Lakes Wānaka and Wakatipu.  

She said monitoring of those lakes showed the measurements were going the wrong way. 

 “This needs to be reversed. That might be our most urgent job.”

Cr Forbes said once leaving council, she would probably volunteer her time in the environmental or conservation space, and felt there was potential for the region to underpin the economy with the work that improved rather than degraded the environment.

“For example, earning export dollars with our cutting edge conservation technology and methods. We could also export environmental and conservation knowledge and education and attract visitors specifically to study with our experts.”

She believed concentrating on more tourism ‘bums on seats’ to try and extract more dollars was a “zero sum game” where communities and environment were the losers and corporate interests, many overseas based - the winners.

“We don’t have to go that way, but we do need to invest in the alternatives.”

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