The developer behind a sprawling gondola, housing and tourism proposal in Queenstown has told sceptical residents his family wants to help the community.
By Katie Todd of RNZ
Bowen Peak Ltd owner Guy Hingston fielded questions and, at times, fury from members of the Fernhill & Sunshine Bay Community Group at a meeting on Tuesday night.
His company is seeking to build two gondolas and a cable car extending up to Bowen Peak, along with two predator-free sanctuaries, viewing stations, hiking and biking trails, ski facilities, an outdoor education centre, and more than 1300 housing units across 175 large chalets in Fernhill.
Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop accepted the plan into the fast-track process in April after two failed applications.
While a show of hands at the meeting showed no support for the proposal, Hingston said few people had contacted Bowen Peak Ltd directly.
"We launched our website late in 2024... we've received 13 emails with feedback since then," he said.
"It's vital to have community feedback."
Bowen Peak Ltd earlier estimated the project could deliver $147 million in annual visitor spending and create 325 long-term jobs, with houses set aside for key workers and for the Queenstown Lakes Community Housing Trust.
The company was proposing to remove 400 hectares of wilding pines and "restore the area's pre-Pakeha ecological character" with species like kiwi, takahē and kākāpō.
Hingston, a surgeon working in Australia, was pressed on how he would mitigate the risks of forest fires, landslides and harm to wildlife, and how he would manage traffic congestion, parking and the extra load on wastewater infrastructure.
He fielded questions on how the skiing was "actually a serious proposition" with limited snow, how he planned to build on such steep land and how the project would be funded, telling residents it would be underwritten by his family.
"I'm asking the community to understand that this project comes primarily out of our family's decision to try and help the community," he said.
"My son tells me that 10% of residents in Queenstown this year will sleep in their car at least one night this year. Our family would like to do something to try and help that. We look out the window from our home, and we see hardly any neighbourhood birds, and we know what Zealandia has done to the Wellington landscape... and we'd like to try and replicate that."
Resident Raquel Carter said she was not convinced Fernhill was the best spot, or that Hingston's plan was a feasible solution.
"It comes across as this big, rosy, interesting plan that's a little bit sugar coated with birds and affordable housing. You could put a bird sanctuary in a lot of places ... you could go and help with affordable housing and actually talk to the local council," she said.
Earlier, in comments on the referral application, Queenstown Lakes District Council warned Bowen Peak Ltd's spending estimates could be overstated, and it could not confidently confirm the development would deliver significant regional or national benefits.
Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu and Papatipu Rūnaka were against the project proceeding, while the Otago Regional Council warned it could generate more than 1350 additional daily trips on constrained road corridors.
Hingston said there had been a lot of good feedback at the meeting to inform the company's substantive application.
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