The Queenstown Lakes District Council's plan to extend the town centre was ''too rushed'', too complicated and lacked a strategic framework, submitters said yesterday.
During the third day of the hearing on plan change 50 in Queenstown yesterday, Memorial Property Ltd's John Stevenson said the plan to rezone and add 15ha to the existing town centre was ''not demand growth''.
''This is `zone it and they will come','' he said.
Memorial Property Ltd, of which Mr Stevenson is a director, spent most of yesterday presenting evidence to commissioners Sir John Hansen and Jane Taylor, in opposition to the plan change.
Mr Stevenson said while the goal was to have an ''attractive, vibrant town'', the proposal lacked fundamental infrastructure requirements, such as parking and roading.
''This is too rushed. You're simply going to end up with a lot of disgruntled and annoyed people.''
Frankton Rd, which was already a bottleneck in peak periods, a situation worsened by a roundabout, was ''the lifeblood of the CBD'', he said.
''That's how you get into town. That's our whole traffic management philosophy - make that roundabout work. It's a choke point.''
Frankton Rd in particular could not cope with the amount of potential vehicles should the rezoning and subsequent development proceed, he said.
The ''business improvement district'' he was a part of had received almost 200 responses to a survey about issues in the town centre.
Ms Taylor questioned why so many people had responded to that survey, yet only 52 had submitted on plan change 50.
Mr Stevenson said it was largely because the plan change was ''beyond them''.
''There are so many issues wound up in it; they haven't got time to read it. This information came out quite late. ''Really, people only found out about it when this [artist's impression] hit the Mountain Scene.
''They've got no comprehension at all of the effects of it.''
Earlier Tim Kelly, of Tim Kelly Transportation Planning Ltd, submitted on behalf of the company. He said it was vital the council had a strategic framework in place to deal with traffic congestion and available parking as well as effecting changes in travel behaviour.
''Without this, planning for the town centre will become reactive rather than proactive with a very real likelihood that adverse effects associated with congestion and a lack of parking available will run contrary to the intended objectives of PC50 - to secure an attractive and vibrant town centre.''
He said the ability to access Queenstown in a private car would continue to be a key attraction of the CBD, but seeking to promote a shift to using alternative transport, such as buses, by controlling the supply and cost of parking would be ''fraught with difficulties''.
The likelihood was residents and visitors would instead use facilities in Frankton and other places where there was ample free parking.
While public transport services had improved, he questioned how much more could be done in terms of frequency, cost and speed.
''To get people out of their cars, you need to give them a carrot ... The carrot might be hard to find.''
The hearing continues today.
