The Heart of Wānaka group has handed over its final draft plan for Wānaka’s CBD to the Wānaka Upper Clutha Community Board (WUCCB) and Queenstown Lakes District Council, but group spokesperson Andrew (‘Howie’) Howard says the plan is a “living document” into which locals will continue to have input.

Howie told the Wānaka App the group will present the WUCCB with the details of the plan, which he calls “an advisory document for future development” at a public meeting taking place today (Thursday July 27) .

“The key message is we’ve spent a lot of listening; balancing and rebalancing the aspirations parts of our community have.

“We’ve come up with a pretty comprehensive plan and we’re really proud of the result.”

Heart of Wānaka is a steering group comprising local community members who started working together in late 2021 to try to coordinate an integrated town centre development.

The group’s key vision is to optimise ‘the lakeside heart of Wānaka’ as a thriving, welcoming community centre, and feed into the council’s planning and channel funding to where it is most needed.

Fewer cars and more - and safer - active transport is a key aim of the plan. PHOTO: Wānaka App

Features of the final draft plan include removing cars from the lakefront, installing new wharves, more play space, public artworks, more native planting, community gardens, and more active cycling and pedestrian safety and access.

“I passionately believe the Heart of Wānaka is a key asset for our whole economy and we can’t afford to delay investment in that area,” Howie said.

Hundreds of volunteer hours and thousands of conversations later, Howie says some parts of the community will think the resulting plan is not bold enough, or too bold.

But, the plan is “a living document [and] it will continue to evolve”, he said.

“Council will still require a consultation and business case process so there will absolutely still be opportunities for people to [give] feedback. We can keep reminding [council] of the community’s aspirations.”

One of the key priorities for Heart of Wānaka is to push for a timeframe to the last part of the Lakefront Development Plan (LDP): the area immediately in front of the CBD.

“That’s absolutely a priority for us - how that part of town is addressed,” Howie said.

“There’s also a parking review coming up - a council-led process - and the priority for us again is ensuring that parking review aligns with the other aspects of the town centre.”

Howie said the plan aimed for something close to “car park neutral”.

While the LDP has proposed removing carparks from the lakefront in front of the CBD, that plan “didn’t deal with the issue”, he said.

Heart of Wānaka’s plan looks at increasing parking along the Hedditch Street road reserve, which is close to town and good for workers’ all-day parking.

“That frees up parks in town which workers [currently] use,” he said.

“The intent of this plan as always, has been to provide [a] connective overview of the town centre. It’s trying to look at the big picture, how these things work together.”

It had been a long process for the group, which had to learn to navigate various council processes, and Howie said they would “continue to work with council staff and the community board and submit on the long term plans to submit for resourcing and budget for key projects”.

The Heart of Wānaka group membership is Howie, Chris Hadfield (WUCCB), Markus Hermanns, Lucy Lucas (retailers’ representative), Steve Norman (property owner), and Garth Falconer.

Howie said the group will probably call for more people to come on board in the near future.

Read the Heart of Wānaka final draft plan here.