Opposition is mounting to the proposed $21.5 million sports stadium, sports fields and swimming pool in the centre of Wanaka.
Most of the 28 submitters appearing at the Queenstown Lakes District Council's 10-year-plan hearing in Wanaka yesterday objected to any more development cluttering the town centre and lakefront.
Hundreds of the more than 1000 written submissions on the 10-year plan address Wanaka's sports facilities.
There is considerable support for a working party suggestion the facilities be built together on a town centre site comprising the Wanaka showgrounds, Wanaka Lakeview Holiday Park and Pembroke Park.
However, the majority of the people at the 10-year plan hearing yesterday want the sports facilities built at a greenfields site, east of Wanaka.
Lake Hawea resident Rachel Brown said building an indoor stadium and pool on prime lakefront land "lends itself to farce and all sorts of cartoons". The community had stated in past planning exercises that Wanaka should grow to the east, not the west, she said.
Loris King, who successfully spearheaded the Save Pembroke Park campaign many years ago, said she was alarmed at a bias towards the camp and showgrounds site.
Mrs King also deplored the emotive language of submitters demanding "we want it now".
The proposal was just another attempt to destroy one of Wanaka's assets.
Jo Dippie predicted that within 10 years the sports facilities would be as cramped and disastrous as the Wanaka town hall.
Former district councillor Lesley Burdon reminded the council of the "extraordinary and disappointing" omission of Wanaka's green belt from protection under the district plan.
The green belt included the showgrounds, camping ground and Pembroke Park and should be free from any further building, Mrs Burdon said.
The draft 10-year plan assumes the $10 million indoor stadium could be completed in 2014, if built on council-owned land.
It suggests deferring the $11.5 million aquatic centre to 2016.
Buying a greenfields site would add up to $10 million to the stadium cost and could delay the project.
There are two proposals for the pool site: Kellys Flat, which the council already owns and is not in the town centre, or co-location with the indoor stadium.
The draft plan has not identified what the expected benefits of co-location would be.
It says those costs could only be identified after detailed designs are completed.
Plan hearing starts
What: Day 1 of the Queenstown Lakes District Council's 10-year-plan hearings in Wanaka.
Total number of submissions: 1100.
Number of submitters: 28 issues for Wanaka: provision of sports facilities, future of Wanaka Lakeview Holiday Park, controls on population growth, unkempt private sections, town water supply, waste management, future of mountain biking in the Plantation, developer contributions, rates and council spending, Wanaka's green belt.
Issues for the council: Projected $413 million debt if all 10-year-plan projects completed by 2019. This regarded as unsustainable and many projects are being deferred.
Next: Hearings continue in Queenstown today with 39 submitters scheduled to speak.
Then what: QLDC reconvenes in Wanaka on June 30 to adopt the plan.
