A public meeting to refocus attention on the future development of Wanaka’s central business district (CBD) is planned for this Friday (July 2).

Hosted by Reset Urban Design (RUD), a specialist urban design and landscape architecture practice, and supported by Ignite Wanaka Chamber of Commerce, the meeting is to enable the local business community to gather ideas for the potential growth of the CBD area.

“We...want to stimulate some excitement back into the heart of the town centre,” RUD’s Linda Falconer said.

“Nothing has been done since the release of the [Wanaka] masterplan which sadly focused on roading rather than the business community,” she said.

At the community meeting, RUD director and experienced urban designer Garth Falconer will present “a broader collaborative vision” for the centre of town and he encourages locals to come along and share their thoughts.

Ignite executive officer Naomi Lindsay said Linda and Garth had approached the chamber asking it to support a community meeting “to resurrect conversations around the downtown master planning”.

“We agreed it was a good idea to bring members of the community together to discuss and view the ideas Linda and Garth had come up with, and share ... thinking on key issues that impact the local business community, members and economy,” she said.

Reset Urban Design was first involved in the development of central Wanaka in 2015 when it was commissioned to prepare a Wanaka Lakefront Development Plan for the Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC). 

The company's conceptual plan of developing the 1.2km Roys Bay lakefront area in five stages was adopted by the QLDC in 2016 and, to date, stage one (Mt Aspiring Road carpark and toilets) has been completed, stage three (from the Dinosaur Park to the Marina) is nearing completion, and the toilet block for stage two (opposite Dungarvon Street) is underway.

Linda said local elected representatives, including the community board and deputy mayor, have been invited to the meeting which will be held at the Wanaka Community Hub from 7:00pm this Friday.

As space is limited, anyone wishing to attend needs to contact Linda Falconer at [email protected]. 

PHOTO: Wanaka App