A prominent local developer says he wants to contribute to the redevelopment of 101 Ballantyne Road for sports fields.

The 20-or-so hectares of public land has long been earmarked to become a multi-use green space which could accommodate a range of sports but the draft Long Term Plan (LTP) does not allocate any funding to progress it until the 2029/2030 financial year.

Developer Allan Dippie told council staff at yesterday’s (Tuesday August 27) LTP hearing in Wānaka that his company, Willowridge Developments, wanted it to be the company’s “major community project”.

The site is bound on three sides by land owned by the company, he said.

“I’ve been doing a lot of good work with your council staff to look at a way of Willowridge contributing major, major input into that project to make it happen,” Allan said.

Elected members heard from the community on a huge range of topics during yesterday’s hearing on the Long Term Plan (LTP).

The future of the site was a hot topic at the hearing in Wānaka, with various club representatives urging Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) to bring forward funding to accommodate growing demand.

Wānaka Cricket Club president Blayne Wegener said a 2030 start date was “not acceptable” and Upper Clutha Sport Services Club deputy chair Claire Eltham said the project should start “no later than 2025”.

Various clubs cited pressure on existing facilities from fast growing membership, including a representative from the Upper Clutha Junior Rugby Club who said some clubs were limiting the number of games they held due to space issues.

Representatives from a range of clubs also called for wooden sprung floors at the Wānaka Recreation Centre, citing safety issues; resident Whitney Thurlow was among the submitters to say the council should provide car parking and toilet facilities at the Waiorau Recreation Reserve (site of the Snow Farm); and the Luggate Community Association (LCA) asked for a cycle trail to give residents a way to get to Wānaka without driving.

Three LCA representatives presented to the council, also asking for a solution to Luggate’s water supply issues as well as a “multi-use” sports court to replace the one that was removed when the Luggate Memorial Centre was constructed.

Other community associations which spoke at the hearing included the Cardrona Valley Residents and Ratepayers Society, with chair Tim Allan asking QLDC to use a portion of council land to fix “woefully inadequate” parking and provide a safe pick-up/drop-off zone for children taking the school bus.

These and many more topics were covered by the more than 450 people from the Upper Clutha who made submissions on the QLDC draft LTP.

Read more: Sports and arts facilities, funding alternatives sought from QLDC

More than 100 of them spoke to their submissions during yesterday’s hearing, which followed a hearing on Monday (August 26) for submitters from in and around Queenstown.

Now that the hearings are complete, councillors will deliberate and make decisions about what changes are made to the draft LTP, before a final LTP is presented to the full council for adoption in September.

PHOTOS: Wānaka App