The Queenstown Lakes District Council's urban design strategy will be tabled for adoption at the next full council meeting, but one committee member yesterday questioned who in the community would read it.
After it was presented at the strategy committee meeting, Cr Lyal Cocks asked what value the 29-page document would have to the public.
"If I was a developer, I'd want to pull up a two or three-page guideline from the council . . . The goals are hard to read," he said.
Strategy committee chairwoman Gillian Macleod asked urban designer Nick Karlovsky who he thought would use the document.
"Urban design has come up out of nowhere over the past 10 years and it's good to have a document the general public can get to grips with on where council is heading, rather than make assumptions," Mr Karlovsky said.
It would also serve as an internal council document, he added.
Policy and planning general manager Philip Pannett said proofing had been completed and photographs of a higher quality were to be included. The strategy was suitable for developers and for the council, over time.
"Suddenly, you've got projects and you don't know why you're doing them."
Mr Karlovsky told the committee a number of changes had been made to the strategy's presentation and goals following six weeks of public consultation. Wording had been adjusted as there was some confusion the strategy had an impact on consent applications instead of its purpose as a "broad strategic framework".
Submitters had called for the "action plan" component to be "an inspired list of what could be done", rather than a list of what the council was already working on. The action plan was revised to list actions that had funding or commitment, and would be reviewed every three years.
The urban design strategy will be considered at the next council meeting on October 27.
The committee meeting yesterday also dealt with a draft paper on managing Queenstown's urban growth, being told by senior policy analyst Mark Rushworth "Tomorrow's Queenstown", the community plan developed in 2002, did not cover Arthurs Point or Lake Hayes Estate.
"It's more appropriate to throw the net a little bit wider to capture neighbouring settlements, as part of the consultation process . . . Do you want to maintain gaps or are you happy for settlements to merge over time?"
Cr Cocks said he thought the wording in the draft was not clear enough for "Joe Bloggs" to get involved in consultation.
"If you ask for a full monty consultation you're going to get a a lot of different submissions . . . I don't understand how it's going to work when we have four, five, six pockets we're trying to protect."
Mr Pannett said he would not want to prejudge what the community would say.
"This is trying to put a strategic plan so council and landowners know where we're going, which would make plan changes easier.
"We have one plan change and the next three or four in the next few years without a framework."
Cr Macleod said it was important to set an urban boundary around Queenstown and to consider the entrances to the town as they related to the boundary. The resort did not have the luxury of being buffered by golf courses like Arrowtown, she said.
The Queenstown and Wakatipu Urban Boundary discussion document will be made clearer and distributed this week. It will be available from the council offices and on its website.
A drop-in session will be held at the Queenstown Memorial Hall on November 4. A four week consultation period will run until November 13.
