Buoyant applause was countered by ''boos'' in the Queenstown Memorial Centre yesterday, ending a fiery public question-and-answer session on the proposed $50 million convention centre for the resort.
The noon session had it all: a former mayor attempting to dominate proceedings, the mayor reiterating it was not a done deal and was not being ''rammed down people's throats'', and a hoteliers' representative saying if any town ''has the balls'' to pull off a convention centre, it was Queenstown.
The event, organised by the Queenstown Chamber of Commerce, ran over time and ended with a mixed reaction.
People scrambled for seats as a panel made up of Queenstown Lakes Mayor Vanessa van Uden, council chief executive Adam Feeley, CBRE consultant John Schellekens and Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment senior policy adviser Roger Wigglesworth faced the business community.
The hour-long session ran to 75 minutes and some of those who stayed on applauded Queenstown hotels regional chairwoman of the Tourism Industry Association Penny Clark's positive outlook.
''There's no such thing as no risk. There will be risk, but if anybody has the balls to pull it off, Queenstown can, so I compliment the fact that we are going through this process and let's try and find some positivity about this ...'' she said before being drowned out in applause.
Ms Clark's positivity also encountered some ''boos''. Earlier in the session she had raised concerns some hoteliers had about the centre's hotel.
Before the applause there was discontent as Mr Feeley defended the centre's proposed capacity of 750, Ms van Uden justified why a referendum was not on the cards at this stage and Mr Wigglesworth admitted it would not be legal, under existing laws, for the centre to have a casino.
The council had previously announced they had chosen a consortium of casino operator SkyCity Entertainment Group, Ngai Tahu Property and Morrison and Co to run the centre and that a casino was an option.
More than 100 people present were told the average conference was 600 people and if Queenstown wanted a referendum, as advocated by former Queenstown mayor Warren Cooper, then, Ms van Uden said, they should make a submission.
Mr Cooper made his presence felt, standing up a second time and stating he was becoming ''quite irritated'', before opposing Ms van Uden's assertion the council would make the decision on the centre, rather than deferring to the next elected representatives.
Voting for candidates in the local government election will close on October 12 and newly elected representatives are likely to take their place at the council table by the end of October.
