LWB Issue 815.Indd
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JOBS INSIDE49 LAKES WEEKLY No 815 No 815 BULLETIN FIRST ON THE STREET 24th Aug - 30th WWW.LWB.CO.NZ • BUY • ACCOMMODATION • SELL • INFORMATION • JOBS • [email protected] It sucks, but we can do this Last Tuesday afternoon was a day like most others. Tuesday is LWB delivery day across the region and we were popping into businesses to give them their personal copy. Town was quite busy when the ski fi elds emptied and then at around 3pm I got a text from one of our journalists that a positive case had popped up in the community. It didn’t even occur to me at the time that I would need to grab fi les from the offi ce before I left for the day because I wasn’t going to be back on Wednesday. The 6pm full lockdown announcement was quite a surprise. For South Island business leaders, it sucks but we get it and if I had thought it through, I would have logically concluded that once one Delta case got in, everyone was going into isolation until the health offi cials had a grasp on how far and how quickly it has spread. There is no doubt the current lockdown will thump local business and our GDP really hard! Many events, shows, gigs including most of Winter Pride are now all cancelled or rescheduled and with Auckland staying in lockdown It seems like a life time ago, but just over a week ago Jive and Thrive held their for a while yet, that wonderful stream of visitors’ dollars will also dry up. charity fundraising event at the Memorial Hall. It was a huge success with all involved having a wonderful time. Image Brian Ellis. Another insight was the number of visitors who were in town when the lockdown was announced. Shame everyone jumped on a plane and headed north to get home. Personally, I would have thought it was better to do lockdown here. We have been here before and survived and as painful as it is to say we will do it again. For a while it’s going to be hard but we are resilient and a very supportive bunch. It sucks and its hard but with the vaccine rollout ramping up to respectable levels now, there is a pathway out of this and one that’s sustainable this time. We will survive the near term and we know what to do. Last year the town pulled together, whether that was neighbours looking out for each other or locals supporting local business and the other ways around, that spirit is required again. This time support services will be sorely needed and will be needing our help. I don’t know, but suspect many people have less buffer this time around. History shows us that the economy will bounce back quickly once the country reopens and confi dence in travel returns and I think it likely that activity will be back at pre-lockdown levels by the end of the year. Meanwhile hopefully from Saturday, when we are released from level 4, let’s enjoy our relative freedom and count our blessings. I for one am looking forward to enjoying having our town, just for ourselves again. I’ll enjoy it more this time. David Gibbs General Manager | Queenstown Media Group WE HOPE TO SEE YOU ALL SOON MONDAY-THURSDAY 2:30PM-LATE FRIDAY-SUNDAY 11:30AM-LATE 03 442 4600 www.boardwalkqueenstown.nz LAKES WEEKLY BULLETIN Page 2 Council finds alternative to jump park by Payl Taylor Mayoral update By Jim Boult Let’s talk about housing There’s no denying the Queenstown Lakes District is a world-renowned place to visit and enjoy, and we also see many people choosing to live and stay here for our unrivalled work-life balance. We open our front doors to an environment like no other, and we’re surrounded by a beauty and vibrancy that people all around the world, quite literally, pay to come and see and immerse themselves in. Billionaire Xero co-founder Rod Drury is renting a construction depot A diverse range of cultures mix throughout the towns and landscapes for Queenstown’s council, to save the Gorge Road Jump Park from the bulldozers. of our district, and it’s easy to see why so many people want to make this special place their home. Last month, the future of the popular jump park was secured following a community campaign, which led to discussions between Drury and However, many folks struggle to do just that despite having good Queenstown’s mayor Jim Boult. jobs with an income that in many parts of New Zealand would adequately get them on the property ladder. Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) had the park earmarked for a laydown area to store plant and equipment, to support its infrastructure The attractiveness of our district comes with a price tag and housing works around Queenstown. here is among the most expensive in the country. In fact, in July the QLDC has now revealed the terms of the deal struck between Drury and QV average house price index saw Queenstown Lakes top the listing Boult, after securing an alternative depot site in nearby Industrial Place. as even more expensive than Auckland. Drury agreed to meet the cost of renting the new site. Housing is a fundamental building block of individual, household Boult thanked Mr Drury and said the outcome was a positive result for both and community well-being, and yet it remains one of the biggest the community and council. challenges our communities face. The root cause of housing unaffordability is supply and availability. Limited choice and the “We acknowledge the community’s desire to keep the jump park in its current location and Mr Drury’s help in finding a solution,” Boult says. quality of houses built in the district also contribute. “It’s great that we have folk like Rod in our district who are prepared to make While Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) has committed such generous contributions on behalf of the community.” to tackling this challenge through both the 2016 Mayoral Housing Affordability Taskforce and playing a leading role in the creation and The arrangement means the council has immediate access to a dedicated storage area. ongoing support of the Queenstown Lakes Community Housing Trust, we can and must do more for our communities. And we are. QLDC Property and Infrastructure General Manager Pete Hansby said Council investigated two potential sites. We have two proposed initiatives, both of which aim to address the housing challenge faced by our communities. The first is a draft “We selected the one on Industrial Place because it’s secure, has good Queenstown Lakes Homes Strategy and Action Plan which sets out access and is close to other Council worksites,” Hansby says. QLDC’s aspirations for our housing challenge. It has four outcomes, “The site is vacant and available immediately. each with a range of actions and goals, some already underway. “This is a good result and I’d like to thank everyone involved.” The second focuses on provisions in Planning for Affordable Housing. This offers four ways in which QLDC could adjust planning rules to provide for a proportion of housing which remains affordable as building and development occur. Now is time for arguably the most important part of the process: asking what you and the rest of our communities think about these Meet the team initiatives. David Gibbs General Manager This is a topic I am passionate about and personally I believe housing Finance Kendalle McLeod is at the heart of creating secure, connected, and caring communities, How to advertise Catherine Mercer Account Manager creating jobs and a diverse economy. It’s also fundamental to Ph: 03 409 2800 027 777 2785 | [email protected] Email: [email protected] sustainable and responsive urban planning and development. Place your ad online: www.lwb.co.nz Kylee De Suza Account Manager 021 044 2968 | [email protected] As a district, we desperately need our future community leaders, Advertising Deadlines residents, and entrepreneurs to be able to flourish here, while also Graphic Designer Display Advertising: 12pm Friday Ana Paula Salvi being able to attract talent from elsewhere in New Zealand to bring Situations Vacant: 12pm Friday Patricia W. Becker Graphic Designer much needed skills to the district. Housing sits as the key obstacle. Queenstown Media Group Paul Taylor Editor/Journalist I strongly encourage you to please help provide Council the direction 2nd Floor, The Mountaineer Bethany Rogers Contributor Building it needs to address this housing challenge, by sharing your feedback Contributor Cnr Beach and Rees Street Lauren Prebble on both the draft Queenstown Lakes Homes Strategy and Action PO Box 1546, Queenstown 9300 Jay Cassells Contributor Plan, along with our Planning for Affordable Housing initiative. Head to letstalk.qldc.govt.nz now, take a look at the information available, and share your thoughts! Feedback closes on Sunday 26 September, and I’d love to see as many of our people as possible providing feedback on this incredibly important topic and being heard well in advance of the cut-off date. Also see Queenstown’s plans for Housing on page 8 LAKES WEEKLY BULLETIN Page 4 Queenstown Airport’s profits obliterated by Covid by Staff Reporter QAC also undertook an organisational restructure, which Young-Cooper acknowledged was a “difficult time for our people”. QAC halted most of its capital expenditure programme and significantly reduced its operating expenditure as a key component of the company’s stabilisation plan. Total operating expenditure decreased by 30% to $10.7 million from $15.3 million last year.