October the earliest for revamp of buses

Stephen Woodhead
Stephen Woodhead
The Otago Regional Council has ruled out an early start to an overhauled Wakatipu public transport system.

A rejuvenated system - suggested by Queenstown Lakes Mayor Jim Boult and supported by the ORC and NZ Transport Agency - would include a flat $2 bus fare, tweaking of routes and altered timetables.

In response to questions from Mr Boult yesterday, ORC chairman Stephen Woodhead said the regional council was working towards an October start date at the soonest.

``We're working as hard and as fast as we can. We're focused on an October start date. There's no room for bringing it shorter.''

Cr Woodhead pointed out its annual plan was not approved and there were still contract negotiations to undertake.

Some infrastructure changes would have to occur after October, he said.

Mr Boult penned the Queenstown Lakes District Council's submission to the ORC's draft annual plan.

The submission said some of the ORC's plans were worryingly inadequate and called on the Dunedin-based body to use some of its ``considerable reserves''.

Mr Boult yesterday called on the ORC to spend more on lake snow contamination research, saying his council faced a costly bill for filtration equipment if the problem was not fixed.


 

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