Cold water on town centre upgrade proposals

A multi-million dollar development plan for Tekapo's town centre has been put on hold because conditions proposed by the Mackenzie District Council for a resource consent threaten the commercial viability of the project.

Last year Coldwater Group announced plans to buy land from the council and more than double the size of the Tekapo town centre with 10,400sq m of new commercial and residential buildings, walkways and car parks. No accurate estimate had been done of the cost.

It applied to the council in October for resource consent for the project, which was notified on December 8 for public submissions with a hearing set down before an independent commissioner on February 26 and 27.

The hearing was rescheduled to May 20 to 22 to allow the applicant to prepare additional evidence on issues raised in a council officer's report.

However, earlier this month Coldwater asked the council to reschedule the hearing for early next year, but planning and regulations officer Craig Lyon felt it should still go ahead in May.

As a result, Coldwater had now withdrawn its application and was unable to say when a new plan would be submitted to the council.

Coldwater's legal counsel Jo Appleyard told the council that, after considering the officer's report, the company had a greater appreciation of the need to take a step back and thoroughly consider the project.

‘‘Some of the recommendations of the officer, if accepted, would render the proposal uncommercial,'' she said.

Coldwater was not in a position to move forward to a hearing with a complex application and critical issues still at large between it and the council officers.

‘‘Those issues are a complex mix of legal, planning and commercial matters which are not easily solvable in a short timeframe,'' she said.

The proposal was to extend the town centre towards Lake Tekapo, overlooking the domain, creating roads and walkways which would provide a vista of the lake and Southern Alps.

The new development would include roads, pedestrian-ways retail space, a restaurant, two-storey accommodation, budget accommodation, a district museum and observatory.

The Godley resort would be redeveloped and additional car parking provided.

The design would be colonial or small-town provincial, in keeping with the alpine setting. Materials would be in keeping with the location.

The development would cover 10,400sq m on the ground, with an additional 8500sq m floor space on first-floor levels.

Add a Comment