A last-ditch attempt to scrap the planned upgrade of the Crown Range Rd between Queenstown and Wanaka, following a $1 million price increase was defeated at a council meeting in Queenstown yesterday.
Cr Vanessa Van Uden proposed cancelling the project, arguing at a meeting of the Queenstown Lakes District Council the rise showed the upgrade should be put out for tender.
Work should be scrapped over winter and resume next summer once two or three prices had been obtained from different contractors, she said.
The Otago Daily Times reported this week the cost had risen from $2.8 million to $3.8 million because of information gaps and a vast increase in scope.
The extra money would pay for the increased cost of improvements to the 3.64km Royal Burn to Glencoe section of the alpine route.
The project was awarded via the council's new procurement board, a collection of seven preferred contractors responsible for $125.5 million of capital works in Queenstown, Wanaka and the Lakes District.
Concerns were raised last year about the possible impact the panel could have on prices through the loss of competitive tendering.
Council engineering general manager Mark Kunath defended the cost increases and advised against a ‘‘do nothing'' approach.
Maintenance of the alpine road had cost the council $55,000 last winter alone, he said.
That could rise this winter to as high as $100,000 if improvements stalled and more maintenance was needed.
Cr Van Uden's recommendation was voted down, with hers the only vote in favour.
Crs Cath Gilmour and John S. Wilson, of Wanaka, abstained.
The council then voted in favour of allocating additional funding to cover the increased cost of the project, with the extra $1 million to be included in the council's 2008-09 annual plan.
Cr Van Uden voted against the recommendation, with Crs Gilmour and Wilson again abstaining.
