A proposed change to the operative Queenstown Lakes District Plan that would extend the area designated as Town Centre in Queenstown will be considered by QLDC this week.

Chief Executive Adam Feeley said that an evaluation report on the proposed change highlighted a number of benefits, including:

• Significantly increased economic benefits than under the current zoning;
• Improved access to more useable and higher quality public open space;
• Opportunities for greater diversity in housing options;
• Addressing land shortages within the current Queenstown CBD

It would support the existing Town Centre and also give more certainty about the kinds of development that could occur at Lakeview.

The Council has already undertaken preconsultation with affected landowners, including those owning properties alongside the proposed Town Centre extension. It received 54 comments, which were taken into consideration as the proposal was finalised.

If the Council resolves to notify the proposed plan change at Thursday’s special meeting, there will be a period of formal consultation required under the Resource Management Act, with a hearing likely in November.

The Council has already resolved to use independent commissioners to consider the Plan Change.

Mr Feeley said the proposed changes would define “convention centre” within the District Plan, making any future development of an international convention centre a controlled activity in the Town Centre zone.

The zoning change, however, is an independent process from the Council’s continuing investigations into whether a convention centre should be built on the Lakeview site. It fits within the overall review of the District Plan, which the Council is undertaking as a separate process.

Council planners have also been developing new policy for the Queenstown Town Centre, that has been progressed in parallel to the plan change. This policy will be considered at the Council meeting in October, and will be notified in Stage 1 of the District Plan review in May 2015.