QLDC allows $5 million for Stanley Street car park

A Queenstown Lakes District Council meeting today learned of a proposed $5 million budget allowance for car park development in Stanley Street.

But Crux understands that this amount won't buy anything like a car park building. It is more likely to be just a flat area with a potential single storey roof and some EV charging spots.

The Playcentre building that was previously on the site has been demolished, and the Arts Centre building split into two and transported to start a new life at Country Lane.

A today's Long Term Plan deliberations the QLDC elected members asked if there were any new items of expenditure expected in the next three years. That question revealed the Stanley Street car park budget allowance that will be formally discussed at a full council meeting later this year.

The $5 million figure is a maximum rather than an actual cost indication.

Councillor Matt Wong asked if the $5 million figure indicated a complex project that might not be be ready for a year or two.

Mayor Glyn Lewers said that the very high visibility of the site meant that the council would have trouble, in terms of public pressure, keeping it out of circulation for that long.

Chief executive Mike Theelen said that whatever was built on the site could be built in stages.

When Crux visited the site today there were just simple concrete blocks keeping the site from being used. We did notice one part of the site being used today by a new resident living in a tent.

An early user of the Stanley Street car park today - living in a tent.

There's not much stopping people from using the car park site at the moment.

Parking is at a premium after the removal of hundreds of spaces from the CBD, prompting a plea earlier this year from the Queenstown Business Chamber of Commerce to the council for action.

Chamber chief executive Sharon Fifield said businesses were telling her the situation in the CBD had gone from "bad to progressively worse".