Left-over transport funding has allowed the Queenstown Lakes District Council to advance the first stage of its central business district bypass.
The council's infrastructure services committee yesterday reallocated the funds to buy land at 18 Beetham St for $865,000, the land being required for stage one of the ''Inner Links'' bypass project to connect Melbourne and Henry Sts.
It was hoped the New Zealand Transport Agency would still fund part of the acquisition, council transport manager Denis Mander said.
The land at 18 Beetham St is for sale and the report discussed yesterday by the council's infrastructure services committee recommended reallocating money from areas where underspending had occurred to buy the land.
''The council has the opportunity to acquire the land for $865,000'' and the landowner was ''seeking urgent resolution'' as they wanted to buy another property, Mr Mander said.
In terms of the NZTA's processes it was ''too early'' for the agency to provide funding as they required the design work to be complete before considering partly funding the acquisition, he said.
Design work was under way and ''it is proposed that a funding application for the land acquisition be resubmitted with NZTA once the current design project is completed'', Mr Mander said in his report.
Parcels of land had been ''progressively purchased'' by the council for stage one of the bypass.
In 2008, the Otago Daily Times reported the council spent $1.1 million in 2007 in a strategic purchase of six properties for the connection and traffic would be redirected between Frankton and Gorge Rds.
The report discussed yesterday said construction of the link could start between 2015-16 and 2017-18.
