Media shy: Sign of the times outside Queenstown District Court on Monday
“Don’t you f..king take a picture of me, mate.”
I was tempted to ask “Or what?” – but that would have been a little unprofessional.
And it probably was a bit rude pointing my camera at the bloke as he wandered into Queenstown District Court on Monday morning.
He didn’t end up in the dock – but was seemingly associated with some of those appearing in relation to the brutal kidnap attack of a Cromwell man dumped at Arrowtown a few weeks back.
As far as Wakatipu crime goes, this one’s off the charts – and it’s got me wondering if it’s some sort of barometer for Queenstown growth.
Most of the accused are local residents. So is it a watershed Queenstown crime moment – when the so-called village burst through another level towards becoming almost city-like with city-style problems?
Unfortunately, it may well be. You get a lot of weird and brutal crime in cities. And this one – allegedly luring someone to the Crown Range turn-off, attacking them with blunt instruments whilst wearing balaclavas and then putting them in a car boot and dumping them elsewhere – would be right at home in an urban centre.
The Queenstown public are unsurprisingly captivated – I hear chatter about it constantly. And any time we file an update to our website scene.co.nz it catapults into the top-five most-read items.
As Queenstown continues to grow and attract more people, it’s going to face more of these kinds of problems. It’s just a natural by-product.
Queenstown struggles with its rampant population on a lot of levels – an overloaded sewer system, limited health services, overwhelmed schools. And now seemingly the court system.
Most of the media had applied to the court to photograph the accused. The judge knew about it, but the accuseds’ lawyers didn’t and most initially objected. How they hadn’t been informed that media were interested in snapping the first appearance of their clients – charged over one of the most shocking crimes to hit this district of late – is beyond me.
But I’ll stop there on that – I don’t want to completely bum you all out as we enter the festive season.
The past few weeks have also seen plenty of great stuff highlighting the positive side of growth.
Two examples will feed into the push to bring in more big-spending tourists to the Wakatipu and country – like the announcement that The Hills golf course will host the NZ PGA Pro-Am Championship. It’s great to see, particularly after the bitter disappointment of losing the NZ Open, which The Hills basically revived.
Same goes for the high-end photo safaris organised by Danish camera manufacturer Phase One. The firm brings 24 photo enthusiasts on luxury trips where no expense is spared. They stay in five-star accommodation and are kitted out with $65,000 worth of camera kit.
They get part-hosted by Queenstown Centre for Creative Photography’s Jackie Ranken and Mike Langford and gad about the place in choppers to take in some of the best scenery the area has to offer.
This first trip sold out and it’s set to become an annual event.
Queenstown’s coming of age in all sorts of ways.
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