Wānaka Upper Clutha Community Board (WUCCB) chair Simon Telfer has told the council it “doesn’t seem fair” that Wānaka has missed out on active transport funding while Queenstown benefited from resource prioritisation.

Simon spoke to the WUCCB submission on the Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) Annual Plan at a hearing in Wānaka last week (Monday May 22).

“We’ve noticed over the years some inequity over the Upper Clutha and [other areas] around spending,” he said.

Simon cited the “tangible example” of the WUCCB requesting a single stage business case for active transport.

“Late last year there was a lot of back-slapping around the district when we got $11M of transport choices funding,” he said, adding that one and a half million dollars of that fund was to go to the Upper Clutha.

He said QLDC told the board three and a half years ago there would be a business case, but “it has yet to be delivered because of internal resource reprioritisation”. 

Read more: $1.5M for Wānaka’s active transport links

Simon said the primary reason funding was not granted to Wānaka was because a single stage business case was not completed by council, meaning the board was unable to put forward projects that had been designed.

“Out of that whole transport choices [funding] Wānaka will be left not actually receiving anything,” he said.

“It doesn’t seem fair.

“It was a classic example of Wānaka or the Upper Clutha .. not having that resource prioritisation. 

“We end up lagging behind.

“Can we … just be cognisant around the resource allocation between what is committed to Wānaka Upper Clutha to make sure it actually happens,” he said.

Simon raised the concern as one of six points he emphasised from the board’s submission on the Annual Plan. The other points were the need for council to focus on Stone Street discharge into Bullock Creek; a plea not to defer funding for lakefront development plan and active transport; and the board wanting “some discretion” over how the Upper Clutha minor improvements budget is spent.