Millions of dollars of unspent council funds for Wānaka capital expenditure (CAPEX) projects allocated in last year’s budget will be carried forward into this year’s budget.

More than $38M of the CAPEX allocated last financial year (FY2020/21) for various projects was not spent and, rather than lose the funding, councillors have approved the budgeted funds be carried forward to this financial year (FY2021/22) and beyond.

The projects ranged from new buildings, waste management and three waters to transport, facilities maintenance, and developments on parks and reserves, and included several ongoing Upper Clutha projects.

“In some instances, it is not possible to complete all capital projects within annual plan time frames and many project lifecycles span across multiple years,” a financial report explained Queenstown Lakes District (QLDC) councillors.

The primary reasons given by council staff for the need to carry forward budgets from one year to the next include: reliance on accessing third party funding, such as the New Zealand Transport Agency for roading projects; timing and agreement of land acquisitions and consents; community and stakeholder engagement in some projects to agree design solutions; and a reliance on third party agreements and the ability of those partners to participate within council’s planned timelines.

Where projects have not been completed by the end of the financial year (June 30), the budget manager must request that funding be carried forward to the next financial year (from July 1-June 30) if the budget is required to complete a project, the report said 

“Most of the final carry forwards reflect the situation where the project is committed and is underway but incomplete at June 30 2021,” the report said.

This includes local projects such as the construction of the new Luggate Memorial Centre, the remediation of stormwater overspill in the Alpha Series subdivision in Meadowstone, and funding for stage two of the Wānaka Lakefront Development Plan (LDP).

Luggate Hall

QLDC media advisor Sam White said the Luggate Memorial Centre construction was initially delayed due to an extended procurement period and supply chain issues with the specialist windows required for Passive House standards.

The $4.85M construction was meant to begin in February this year but demolition of the old hall didn’t begin until June. The unspent budget of over $864k was carried forward to this financial year and the centre is now expected to be completed around May 2022. 

Meadowstone stormwater bypass

The Alpha Series stormwater bypass has also taken longer than expected to resolve but successful negotiations for easements through private land owned by Fish and Game have been agreed to enable the transfer of the stormwater, Sam said.

The ongoing overflow issues from this Meadowstone stormwater pond was not resolved last year and funding to establish a bypass has been carried forward to this year’s budget.

Around $2.3M for the bypass project was previously approved to be carried forward to FY2021/22 but this will now be spread over the next two years with the target completion date now around October 2022.

Wānaka’s Lakefront Development

The concept of a five stage development of Wānaka’s foreshore was adopted by council in 2016 but five years later only stage one and stage three are completed.

Over $3M of CAPEX funding for the LDP was allocated in last year’s budget but the LDP’s slow progress meant more than $2.6M was carried forward to this year.

Stage two of the LDP includes budgeted work on Wānaka’s flood strategy, mana whenua consultation and a road engineering safety review among other things.

Sam said additional funding for stage two will be sought at the full council meeting this month and, provided funding is approved, stage two’s construction is expected to start and end in the first half of next year.

Funds deferred more than one year

While more than $38M of CAPEX funding was approved to be carried forward from FY2020/21 to FY2021/22, millions more (almost $7M) from last year’s CAPEX has been carried forward to the following year (FY2022/23), including major three waters infrastructure projects, such as the new Beacon Point reservoir and water treatment plant yet to to be built. 

The Beacon Point project has stuttered from the start. Construction of the reservoir has been put on hold and almost $3.5M (including $2M previously carried forward) has been deferred to FY22/23 as council negotiates to secure the essential land required to deliver this project effectively. 

“We anticipate that construction will begin early next year…[and] the new reservoir [will] be commissioned by the end of next year,” Sam said.