“Crack on” was the message from Queenstown Lakes Deputy Mayor Calum MacLeod last Thursday as the Wānaka Community Board approved Stage Two of the Wānaka Lakefront Development Plan. 

The latest design includes an active travel promenade on the area of lakefront running from McDougall Street to Dungarvon Street, with new Millennium Pathway tiles laid alongside it.  The recommendation also included two feature gardens, the retention of as many existing trees as possible, and the introduction of car parking on the lakeside of Ardmore Street.

Four drop-in sessions were held in August to gather community feedback on the proposed Stage 2 plans. Dr Thunes Cloete, General Manager Community Services, Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC), said Council had “taken into account the feedback received” by 176 members of the community and “made a number of minor revisions” as a result.

Namely, campervan parking was to be removed from the design for lakeside car parking off Ardmore Street and instead assigned a small portion of existing parallel parks on the Pembroke Park side of McDougall Street, and parking alongside Ardmore Street was to be broken into sections of cars and smaller divisions to protect the view of the lake from Ardmore Street.

Despite a concern raised in the public forum by Alan Richardson that the design did not go far enough to protect the lakefront parking being taken up by big vehicles which would interrupt the view, the recommended design was approved and will now move into the detailed design phase, which will include the formation of a working group to assist with the creation of a new Millennium Pathway.

QLDC spokesperson Jack Barlow said QLDC would also investigate flood levels to understand the assets which could potentially be affected by flooding as part of this phase.

Read edition 1004 of the Wānaka Sun here.