Commitment, 'bias', convention centre big issues

Candidates standing for the Queenstown Lakes District mayoralty and council on stage at the...
Candidates standing for the Queenstown Lakes District mayoralty and council on stage at the Queenstown Memorial Centre last night. Pictured are (back row from left) Fiona McArthur, Warwick Stalker, Simon Stamers-Smith, Trevor Tattersfield, Nicola...
Incumbent Queenstown Lakes mayoral candidate Vanessa van Uden responds to a question from a...
Incumbent Queenstown Lakes mayoral candidate Vanessa van Uden responds to a question from a member of the public during a mayoral debate in Wanaka yesterday, while challenging candidate Al Angus listens. Photo by Lucy Ibbotson.

Kinloch man Al Angus defended his position in the challenge for the Queenstown Lakes mayoralty during a mayoral forum in Wanaka yesterday.

Mr Angus and the district's incumbent mayor Vanessa van Uden both fielded questions at the forum, organised by the Otago Chamber of Commerce in conjunction with the Otago Daily Times and attended by about 30 members of the public.

Wanaka resident Malcolm Frith asked: ''Are you really a serious candidate or are you the joker in the pack? And what experience do you really have in local government, particularly handling major budgets?''

Mr Angus said he had relevant attributes and skills.

''I'm just a common sense person that's had two or three quite successful businesses in Queenstown and I've got fairly good bulldust detectors,'' Mr Angus said.

Tensions flared when Wanaka resident Greg Marshall alleged Ms van Uden had declared Wanaka full of ''whinging old people and grannies'' at a recent function, before asking Ms van Uden how she planned to ''deal with your bias'' against Wanaka.

Ms van Uden objected to Mr Marshall's ''antagonism'' and emphatically denied making the comment.

''I have listened to Wanaka, I have worked with Wanaka, I have responded to Wanaka,'' Ms van Uden said.

Other issues raised at the forum included the need for ultra-fast broadband in Wanaka, whether Wanaka splitting from QLDC and forming its own council was viable, and the cost-effectiveness of building the proposed Wanaka sports facility at Three Parks versus the showgrounds site.

At a second debate of Queenstown Lakes District Council candidates at the Queenstown Memorial Centre last night, Wakatipu ward candidate John Glover literally took a leap of faith, falling from the stage, after sitting back in his chair perched precariously on the edge.

Mr Glover had told the the audience of about 100 the council ''should be like a church'' with ''followers who believe in what we're going'' and ''reach out to people and touch their spirit''.

Council candidate Bryce Whiting spent the majority of his 60-second introduction encouraging people to vote for Cr Cath Gilmour - who could not be present - praising her work on the revamped Queenstown Memorial Centre.

The discussion covered various topics, including recent issues between council and disgruntled Wanaka ratepayers. Council candidate Craig Ferguson said: ''We've got a wonderful opportunity to bring the two sides of the hill together to work a bit harder to create that [amalgamated community].

The proposed Queenstown convention centre also proved a hot topic, with several candidates speaking out in opposition of a casino being attached to it.

They included Cr Mel Gazzard, who said putting a casino with the centre would create ''a very ugly environment'', Cr Trevor Tattersfield who described it as a ''red herring'' and first-time candidate Angus Welsh, the council's former management accountant, who said if the convention centre was unable to operate without having a casino attached ''then it shouldn't be here''.

• The ODT/Chamber of Commerce Central Otago mayoral forums take place today in Cromwell at noon, in the Otago Polytechnic's Molyneux Restaurant, and at Alexandra at 5.30pm, at the Centennial Court Motor Inn.

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