Mr Hall said Queenstown’s rapid population growth was behind yesterday’s Ministry of Education announcement the new school would expand to accommodate 1800 pupils sooner than expected.
"We were in danger of moving into a fantastic new school and being full very quickly. We realised we were growing so quickly, and that’s backed up by what’s happening in primary schools and everything else that’s happening in Queenstown.
"The Government has listened to that, and acted on it, and that’s fantastic."
He expected the school’s roll to be about 1000 pupils when it moved to the new campus in 2018. It now had 850 pupils and expected to start next year with 920.
The new campus, now under construction on a 7ha site in Remarkables Park, was originally expected to open with space for 1200 pupils, but has been designed to allow future expansion up to 1800.
When built to its full capacity, it will be the second-largest school in Otago and Southland, after Invercargill’s James Hargest College.
Clutha-Southland MP Todd Barclay told the school’s assembly yesterday the ministry recognised it needed to "get ahead of growth trends" in Queenstown.
The resort’s population continued to track ahead of Statistics NZ projections, and school rolls were growing more quickly than expected.
It was possible Wakatipu High’s roll could exceed 1200 by the end of 2019, Mr Barclay said.
Building for 1800 sooner had the additional benefit of being "much more cost effective" because contractors were already working on the site.
The cost of the expansion project had yet to finalised, but provision for the "multimillion-dollar" investment would be made in next year’s Budget.
The project began in March, with above-ground work beginning in October.
The cost of the school’s relocation from its current site near the resort’s CBD was estimated at $25million in this year’s Budget.
