An application for a helicopter landing pad at Lakes District Hospital has been filed with Lakes Environmental.
The resource consent application from construction company Arrow International Ltd is for a pad on the grounds near Lucas Pl.
The application has come as welcome news for the Wakatipu St John Ambulance Service and the Wakatipu Health Trust.
The hospital is in a residential zone with a community facility subzone and the application states the pad is intended for emergency requirements only.
St John Ambulance rural officer for Central Otago Ron Smiles said the helipad had been talked about "for some time".
"It's not news to us . . . but we are very pleased it is happening," he said.
It would make the services provided by the Lakes Air Ambulance Rescue Trust more efficient by cutting time transferring inbound patients to the hospital.
At the moment, helicopters carrying patients landed at Queenstown Airport and an ambulance picked them up.
"It frees up the resources and means the vehicles used to pick them up from the airport are free," Mr Smiles said.
The Southland District Health Board-funded project was also applauded by Wakatipu Health Trust chairwoman Maria Cole.
She said while the helicopter landing pad was not a Wakatipu Health Trust initiative, she was "very supportive" of it as it would improve the service offered by the hospital.
