Councillors will consider 12 agenda items at today’s (Thursday October 24) packed full council meeting.

They range from the future of the Wānaka oxidation ponds to a significant capital expenditure re-forecast and the transfer of Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) owned elderly units, to a housing trust to Easter trading hours for local stores.

The Wānaka Upper Clutha Community Board (WUCCB) has already given its tick of approval to a collaboration between Willowridge Developments and the council to create a 20ha grassed area at the former oxidation ponds at 101 Ballantyne Road.

Read more: Collaboration to produce ‘green canvas’ for sports fields

Today councillors will decide whether or not to approve the project, which would fast-track the first step in redeveloping the site and turning it into a “green canvas” for sport and recreation.

The details of the project are confidential but meeting agenda documents indicate it could begin in the next nine to 15 months.

QLDC’s capital expenditure re-forecast - the first of the financial year - will affect a number of projects if it is approved by councillors today.

The existing approved 2024/25 Annual Plan adjusted budget is $170.21M and council staff have proposed a total capital cost decrease of $3.28M, bringing the 2024/25 approved adjusted budget to $166.93M.

Affected projects including Luggate’s wastewater scheme upgrade, which staff are recommending is brought forward after council staff identified a way to deliver it at a lower cost, as well as changes to a handful of other to wastewater projects - mostly deferrals.

Staff are recommending funding boosts to a handful of waste minimisation projects, including a new $0.4M budget for community composting and an increase of $0.18M to the budget for organic waste management, for an incoming food and green waste collection service.

The re-forecast also includes a ‘rebalancing of the books’ for the transport funding after anticipated funding from NZTA some transport projects was not obtained.

Councillors will also decide today whether or not to sign off on the transfer of the council’s elderly units - five in Wānaka and four in Arrowtown - to Queenstown Lakes Community Housing Trust (QLCHT).

Read more: New future for council rental housing discussed

The trust purchased land adjacent to the Wānaka units in 2022 and the transfer would allow QLCHT to build at least 12 units across both sites, plus the transfer would mean the units would be managed by a specialist housing agency.

Five Wānaka housing units for the elderly may be transferred to the Queenstown Lakes Community Housing Trust. PHOTO: Wānaka App

Other items on the agenda include consultation on the Draft Easter Sunday Shop Trading Policy 2025, a gambling and TAB venue policy review, and more, including four publicly excluded items.

The full council meeting will take place at the Arrowtown Community Centre at 1pm.

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