All parties involved in the ongoing arbitration surrounding Lakes Leisure's closed hydroslide appeared to have taken a vow of silence yesterday after an extraordinary meeting was held by the Queenstown Lakes District Council behind closed doors.
The sole publicised agenda item was "Queenstown aquatic centre fast slide".
Council chief executive Debra Lawson did not return telephone calls yesterday and aquatic centre project manager Ken Gousmett said it was a public-excluded meeting and he did not have the authority to comment.
Timaru manufacturer Aeromarine Industries Ltd was responsible for the design, building and safe operation of the hydroslides. Aeromarine operations manager Simon Robb also declined to comment yesterday.
The faster of the two hydroslides in the $18 million Alpine Aqualand complex within the Queenstown Events Centre has been closed to the public for more than three years.
A total of 69 patrons reported minor injuries in about six months of use of the popular fast hydroslide, which opened along with the rest of the Frankton facility in May 2008.
Lakes Leisure put most of the injuries down to patrons ignoring signposted safety rules, but the council-controlled organisation voluntarily closed the attraction in December 2008, after a woman suffered a concussion and shoulder injury while using the slide.
The Department of Labour investigated a complaint laid by the woman but decided not to prosecute.
