Strong opposition to a storage building for the Arrowtown scouts being built on the Nairn St reserve, known as Wilcox Green, has forced the Queenstown Lakes District Council to return to community consultation.
The Arrowtown Village Association and 26 Nairn St residents have objected to the proposed 6m x 6m kitset garage, claiming it will be an eyesore and did not meet the Arrowtown design guidelines.
The 50-strong scout group has its equipment stored in a shipping container at the Arrowtown Holiday Park and at private homes, but wants to build a permanent storage shed.
Opposition to the shed surfaced after QLDC allocated $30,000 in the 2007-08 budget and resolved at the May community services meeting to ask the community how they felt about the storage facility being built on the reserve near the Arrow River.
Longtime Nairn St resident Bill "Swanny" Swann said he did not have a problem with the scouts but did not want any buildings on the reserve.
He wanted it left as a reserve for future generations.
"If they let one building in here, before you know it there's another. No matter what we say, they [council] just bulldoze ahead."
Mr Swann said the council should explore all other locations, including the option of keeping it at the holiday park or using the rugby club rooms at Jack Reid Park.
Neighbour Leeson Baldey, whose house overlooks the Nairn St reserve, described the proposed building as "inappropriate" and wants it to be located elsewhere.
He said the proposal was discussed at the Arrowtown Village Association's May committee meeting when QLDC community services manager Paul Wilson and Cr John Wilson were present.
Mr Baldey said the AVA members made it clear the Nairn St reserve site was not suitable, that the building was obtrusive and an "eyesore".
He had spoken to the Nairn St residents who signed the petition and outlined their main reasons for not locating the building on the reserve.
These included the permafrost conditions in winter, rendering the area unusable, and that it had been identified as a flood hazard zone.
The draft Nairn St reserve management plan allowed for a multipurpose recreation building that should be flexible in design to accommodate a variety of sports, rather than a single-use facility for scouts only, as proposed.
However, the scouts had told the QLDC in May a multipurpose building was not suitable because the group needed to ensure its equipment would be secure and not accessible to others sharing the building.
At the recent community services meeting, Mr Wilson noted the "strong opposition" from the Nairn St neighbours and the AVA, recommending the council consider some of the suggested alternative sites and formalise any proposal through the proposed Arrowtown reserves management plan later this year.
At the meeting, Cr Vanessa van Uden said she had met several of the Nairn St residents to hear their concerns but was aware the scouts needed storage.
The committee resolved to process the proposal through the reserves management plan and consult the community further to find a more acceptable location.
