30thAug - 5th Sept
LOCALLY OWNED SINCE FOREVER
No 866
LAKES WEEKLY BULLETIN
W I AT PR NT UR ID ER E E I
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Street Upgrades
Starting in earnest in early 2021, the Queenstown CBD street upgrades have been under construction for around 18 months. So it’s understandable that there is a sense of frustration for some around what is, in reality, a really important long-term project for our town. Whilst we’ve long referenced Queenstown as the jewel in the crown of Aotearoa New Zealand, it’s important to remember that, like anything, if you don’t keep up with timely maintenance, things inevitably end up failing. This is no different from a motor vehicle or house. The work currently happening in our town centre addresses not only the surface level aesthetics and environment such as new and safer paving, improved lighting, and planting, but also address the essential services underneath which we are finding need major work. This includes services such as our electrics, wastewater, stormwater, and potable water. From time-to-time councils face major expenditure to undertake necessary upgrade projects. This is what we are experiencing here. In 2020, when COVID-19 hit, we were the first Council to be successful in obtaining ‘shovel ready’ money to stimulate the economy of areas suffering from the ongoing effects of the global pandemic. We successfully secured $85M ($50M for Arterials & $35M for street upgrades) from Central Government’s Crown Infrastructure Partners. This funding was only available where councils had projects that were going to be carried out within defined and very short timeframes. QLDC was also the first Council to get a shovel ready project off the ground.
Martin King at the launch of Winter Pride at Smiths Craft Beer house on Friday night. Winter Pride runs through until Sunday 4th September
By and large, the town centre upgrades project has run close to budget and has not veered far from the projected timeframes. This is considering delays through worker sickness and isolation requirements, general staff shortages, late materials deliveries due to global supply issues and identifying and resolving a significant number of issues with historic underground infrastructure both publicly and privately owned. With projects like this it is easy to get caught up in thinking there would have been a better time to do them. The reality is that there is never a ‘right time’. With the return of visitors, Queenstown will just be getting busier and putting off these upgrades would only delay the inevitable and make the process undoubtedly a lot more challenging. The Council seized an opportunity to make the most of the budget available to it and is working to improve the infrastructure and aesthetics of the town so that we are in good shape in all respects going forward, for locals and visitors alike to enjoy for many years to come. I for one am looking forward to the finished result which is imminent. I hope to see many of you there enjoying it too. Mayor Jim Boult
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