It’s a discussion point that’s been raised to me personally and also in recent media reports.
While I think it incorrect to label government allocation of IVL funds as misappropriation, I feel Wānaka, the wider Queenstown Lakes District and also the Mackenzie District deserve a bigger slice of the pie.
This would include things like transport and safety improvements, public toilets and facilities, three waters services and environmental protection and restoration.
We highlighted the growing concern within the community that costs for tourist-related infrastructure is falling disproportionately on local ratepayers.
As targeted rates in places such as Luggate and Hāwea increase, it is understandable frustration in our community has grown.
Queenstown Lakes District has around 33,000 rateable properties and approximately 3 million visitors each year.
With a permanent population of about 54,000 and around 50,000 visitors on an average day, the district’s population effectively doubles.
During peak summer periods, visitor numbers can reach as many as 120,000 in a single day.
Those 33,000 rateable properties shouldn’t be bearing the brunt of costs of catering for a population the size of Dunedin’s.
We also highlighted to the Minister that large numbers of tourists who arrive in Queenstown-Lakes travel through the Mackenzie District.
One million people visit Aoraki Mount Cook per year and it falls on approximately 5500 ratepayers to provide infrastructure and services to deal with that volume.
Wānaka, Hāwea, Queenstown, Cromwell, Omarama and Twizel deserve more.
The reality of the situation is that funds from the IVL are spread around the country, and it’s not a bottomless pit of money.
While a dedicated contribution of IVL funding would be welcome, I believe we need to look at broader ways to alleviate pressure tourism puts on local ratepayers.
I’m more than happy to sit down with our members of local government to try to find solutions.
Joseph Mooney and I recently suggested to the QLDC to consider making our area a Special Economic Zone as part of the current Regional Deal negotiations.
This could potentially allow the likes of a bed tax to be implemented in our area — though I think any such localised levy would need to be clearly ring-fenced and where it would be spent and how it would return value to ratepayers and operators identified.
Should we be charging tourists for using taxpayer and ratepayer funded activities, whether that is on the Doc estate or facilities such as toilets and carparks, which taxpayers and ratepayers have paid for?
Given those local taxpayers and ratepayers are often waiting for core infrastructure like roads and pipes to be budgeted for, it is time to look at solutions to the challenges of being a highly-desirable tourism destination.
— Miles Anderson is the MP for Waitaki.
