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Wānaka faces a battle Lauren Prebble
journalist@thewanakasun.co.nz
wo Wānaka local body politicians are at odds over the future of the town’s community board - and so too, it seems, are the polls. A recommendation from an advisory board suggests scrapping the only community board in the Queenstown Lake District, and a five week submission period is almost up. In one corner Wānaka Ward councillor Quentin Smith believes the community can be served by Ward councillors - in the other, Community Board chair Barry Bruce argues “less feet on the ground, less representation”. A Radio Wānaka poll last week suggested residents were in favour of keeping the board but Quentin Smith says his own poll, through his social profile, swayed against keeping the board. “I created that poll to demonstrate that it isn’t a standout view,”’ he said. What the two do appear to agree on is that Wānaka faces a fight if it wants the board to remain. “The Wānaka community will need to really stand up and fight for it,” says Smith - who has vocally questioned the effectiveness of the board. “I’m not advocating for the demise of the board. My personal experience is that it hasn’t been effective. My view has been shaped by my experience as a community board member and I was less informed”. He believes the changes afoot with the Three Waters Reform may see the council focusing more effort on the delivery of social and community services. After a strong week of publicity, Barry Bruce thinks the ‘Jury’s out’ on the board's fate. Bruce argues four councillors and no board won’t be able to handle the workload required to represent the Wānaka community. He also fired a shot at the QLDC, saying he believed the board was not supported by council and ‘shut out of discussions’ regarding significant community issues like the airport and speed changes.
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Barry Bruce says Wānaka will have less representation if the Community Board goes.
“There are 110 community boards throughout the country, all the other mayors go out in support of theirs… council needs to respect the Wānaka community”. He wants greater autonomy for Wānaka, a view Quentin Smith supports. Meanwhile, the QLDC took issue with aspects of last week’s lead story - ‘Town board: time ticks’. A spokesperson said the story did not make it clear that the submission process was five week long, and misrepresented the proposal for some changes. “We feel it’s important to clarify the period for communities on both sides of the Crown Range
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to have their say on the proposed model remains open until Friday 6 August, and a final decision on what representation in the district looks like has yet to be made by elected members,” the spokesperson said. “Your statement ‘Under the proposals… Whakatipu, based on what is now the Queenstown ward, has fewer councillors than its predecessor’ is incorrect. The proposal is actually an overall increase in the number of councillors representing this same geographical area (including Arrowtown) from seven to eight. The difference being the group’s recommendation that the current Queenstown ward is split
PHOTO: Lauren Prebble
into two separate wards – Whakatipu and Kawarau – to better represent the growth of local populations in different parts of the district (noting that recommendation was amended by Councillors at the 30 June meeting to retain the current Arrowtown Ward). The Council also took issue with some comments made by Barry Bruce and Val Milsom, who sat on the advisory board. “We think it is important to clarify that staff… did not participate in any decisionmaking regarding the recommendations of the independent advisory group,” the spokesperson said.
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