The new youth and community facility for Wānaka is one step closer after councillors approved an additional $1M in funding for the project at a full council meeting on Thursday (February 9). 

The $1M will come out of the Wānaka Reserve Asset Fund (WRAF) and will be repaid in full over the first ten years of the lease, but the decision to approve it put councillors “between a rock and a hard place,” deputy mayor Quentin Smith said.

“The practice has always been that that [WRAF] fund has been largely at the discretion of the community board,” Quentin said. 

“But also, we can’t afford a delay. This project has been delayed and over-run on and on. 

Deputy mayor Quentin Smith said the project had been delayed “on and on”.

“There’s no question we have to fund it - the question is where does the money come from?”

Councillor Lyal Cocks said the WUCCB should have had the opportunity to weigh in, and should have been presented with different options - including for the funding to come from general rates rather than the WRAF.

It's a concern Lyal and others have raised in the past, including in 2020 when an additional $1M from the fund was approved for a budget shortfall for the new Luggate Hall. 

The WRAF - initially $15.6M - was raised by the sale of Scurr Heights land by Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) in 2016, and was designed to be used to fund capital expenditure which benefits the residents of the Wānaka ward. 

Funds from the WRAF have been used for various projects and more than $1M had already been committed from the WRAF for the $4M+ youth and community centre project. 

Councillors eventually voted to approve the funding in order to prevent another delay, but added a caveat that any future use of WRAF funding must follow an adopted resolution by the WUCCB.

In May 2022 council confirmed it had signed a lease for the former Wānaka Mitre 10 building and planned to turn it into a much needed community facility for sports clubs, youth groups and more, but construction still hasn’t begun. 

A QLDC representative told the Wānaka App a tender for a lead construction partner for the project closed on Thursday and “after reviewing the tenders we expect to award the contract by the end of the month”. 

“We’re looking forward to sharing more information on the centre’s design and construction timelines soon after,” they said.

WUCCB members undertook a site visit recently. 

“We can’t wait to see gymsports, netball, Kahu Youth and other community groups operating from this new venue,” WUCCB chair Simon Telfer said.

PHOTOS: Wānaka App