Noisy Skyline shuts and disrupts education centres

Some Queenstown parents are being asked to keep their children home tomorrow as noisy construction work is set to get underway at the Skyline gondola.

Two daycares are closing their doors, while learning for hundreds of children at Queenstown Primary School will pretty much be "impossible", according to the principal.

The gondola attraction closed a little over a week ago for a planned upgrade - its four-seat carriages are giving way to new ten-seaters.  

As part of the renovations, a Bell UH-1 Iroquois ‘Huey’ helicopter will be used by the company tomorrow to install three towers, according to Skyline Queenstown’s social media post from April 28.

Neighbouring early childhood centres KidsFirst Kindergarten and Queenstown Preschool and Nursery will be closing because of the planned work - the preschool just for the morning.

A source at the kindergarten says the noise of the helicopter will exceed their noise guidelines.  

Meanwhile, a little further down the road, Queenstown Primary School board has opted to keep the school open.

An upgrade of the Skyline Gondola will deliver ten-seater gondolas - but the site will get worse before it gets better.

However, parents have been advised it may not be worth ending their children in, and there is the option to keep them home instead.

Principal Fiona Cavanagh says teaching and learning will be “just impossible really” due to the level of noise.

“I've just said to the teachers to plan what they like, because it's going to be very noisy and we just want to keep as much calm and structure for the school as possible.”

Ms Cavanagh says the school was made aware of the disruption about a month ago, and it was the school board's decision to remain open.

There's 640 children on the school roll, and the principal is unsure how many will or won't be in attendance tomorrow.

Parents have been “generally supportive of us staying open”, she says.

“I've just said to the teachers to plan what they like, because it's going to be very noisy and we just want to keep as much calm and structure for the school as possible.”

Ms Cavanagh says there is the possibility the helicopter will land on the school field at some point during the day, so children can learn more about it, however she is waiting on confirmation about this, saying it’ll be a “last-minute” arrangement.  

Crux has been approached by parents frustrated by the timing of the noisy work, with children just settling in for what should be their first full week back after the term break.

Crux has approached Skyline chief executive Geoff McDonald for comment, but he did not respond by time of publication.

The most recent communication from the company via a Facebook post did not include an apology for the disruption.

"Measures have been taken to minimize disruption to the community, including using the smallest helicopter possible to reduce noise," the Facebook post says.

In an online message this morning, the Queenstown Lakes District Council warns people in the CBD tomorrow can "expect loud noises until around midday". 

The Ben Lomond Reserve will also be closed during the operation.