Queenstown Lakes District Council will consult the public further about the future of Earnslaw Park, it was decided at the council's community services meeting yesterday.
It was agreed a community workshop would be held in the coming weeks, attended by urban design and infrastructure consultants, to resolve issues identified during earlier consultations.
At the next community services meeting, scheduled for October 23, the committee would discuss results of the workshop and broader options for the park, in the hope of developing both short-term and long-term recommendations.
Community services chairwoman Cath Gilmour acknowledged the council was on a tight budget and someone in the community might hold the answer to how the park's upgrade should proceed.
"Someone out there probably has a good solution that we have not heard yet," Cr Gilmour said.
"What we need is to get everyone together and stop talking past each other."
She said no recommendation was going to "please everyone" but a workshop could help people understand what was possible in the area and within the budget.
During the last round of consultations, the council received a proposal by Wai Dining Group to develop a joint cafe and public toilet in the park and this had become an option.
The council received a late submission from a party acting for the owners of the Baycentre on Beach St and during the meeting John Edmonds, speaking on behalf of the centre, asked the council to seriously consider the area becoming a shared space.
After being told by Cr Gilmour the idea seemed "very expensive", Mr Edmonds said it did not have to be.
"It's about having a long-term plan for the area."
Queenstown resident Lorraine Cooper said although the public consultation has been "great", she opposed any retail development or commercialisation of the park.
In the latest report on the upgrade, submitted by the council community services general manager Paul Wilson and parks manager Gordon Bailey, it was recommend the two willow trees remain and a hoggin surface, a low-cost mix of clays, sands and gravels, be laid underneath.
Cr Gilmour said during the meeting the council had still not resolved various issues, such as truck access from the park to the lake, which was legally required.
She said upgrading the turf, the state of which was also a cause of discontent, would be a "Band-Aid" response to the larger issue.
