Several alternative sites previously considered by the club have been deemed unsuitable and the latest proposal has attracted strong opposition from neighbours who have formed the Stoney Creek Action Group.
During yesterday's public forum, Timaru Rowing Club secretary Grant Proudfoot, representing a trust which owns 46 Mt Aspiring Rd, objected on the grounds the site directly joined a residential area and the building's closeness and height would diminish the outlook of neighbouring properties and be a "visual blight" on an "unspoiled" lakefront environment.
He also anticipated problems with building expansion based on the "exponential growth" of the club since 2007, but club coach Dave Varney said growth projections to 2020 had been taken into account in the proposed 400sq m building platform. The building would include a boat shed, changing rooms and gym, but design plans produced at this point were "purely indicative", Mr Varney said.
Wanaka resident John Beattie supported the club and urged the board to act quickly and resolve the issue as soon as possible to avoid repeating the lengthy decision-making process surrounding the Wanaka Sports Facility.
"Get on with it. Show some leadership . . . don't put what is a financially struggling club through an exercise where it will run out of breath and we'll end up with nothing at the end of it," Mr Beattie said.
Stoney Creek Action Group lawyer Jan Caunter, of Wanaka, said the reserve management plan and the district plan did not contemplate the site as suitable for a rowing club. The club would still have to apply for resource consent and work through the rural general zone provisions in the district plan, "which are protected fiercely here", Ms Caunter said.
Queenstown Lakes District Council property manager Joanne Conroy said the management plan only allowed for water-related activities on the foreshore, so the rowing club would not set a precedent for other less suitable lakefront developments.
Board chairman Lyal Cocks said this was reflected in the two existing lakefront buildings - the yacht club and the Log Cabin.
In approving the lease at Stoney Creek, the board asked the council's chief executive Debra Lawson to appoint an independent resource consent hearing panel and recommended public workshops be held to address any issues before public consultation began.
