Bid by kayakers for pond

A new use for a disused jet sprint course at Albert Town emerged yesterday during a public hearing into the draft Albert Town reserve management plan.

Central Otago White Water Club members Roy Bailey and Pete Simpson say the course could be excavated to form a 25m by 12m pond for training novices and canoe polo games.

Mr Bailey said he had been thinking about the pond for about three years and, as soon as he read the sports and recreational policies in the plan, he thought it would fit in perfectly.

The club already had a Hawea River slalom course in the reserve and was about to start building its consented whitewater park further upstream at Camphill bridge.

"We are very grateful to have the existing site and having a pond slightly downstream would complement it.

"It would be a tremendous asset. We have a strong club and have members training down there nearly every night [in the summer]," Mr Bailey said.

The club had about 200 members, about 60 of whom lived in the Wanaka area.

The Hawea River became "pretty unusable" for novices during high flows, Mr Bailey said.

The pond could be filled by a pipe from the drainage channel previously cut from the Hawea River for the jet sprint course.

Gravel could be used by the Wanaka Rodeo Club or to upgrade the access road to the Hawea River.

The area needed a good tidying and that would benefit everyone, not just kayakers.

The club would need to work with Ngai Tahu, Contact Energy and the Otago Regional Council to get consents, but the first step was having the potential for the facility noted in the reserve management plan, Mr Bailey said.

There is no funding in the annual plan for the pond, but Mr Bailey said the costs need not be huge and a funding application could be made to the Central Lakes Trust.

Queenstown Lakes District Council community services general manager Paul Wilson advised the panel a kayak pond could be approved in principle, subject to appropriate consents.