A record number of Fernhill and Sunshine Bay residents turned up to vent frustrations and ask questions of those responsible for works on Queenstown’s Man St at a meeting on Tuesday evening.
A trio of Whakatipu Transport Programme Alliance reps proved a big drawcard when fronting the monthly Fernhill Sunshine Bay Community Association meeting.
‘‘Even our AGMs aren’t this big,’’ acting association chair Simone Bray said of the 30-plus throng, which included Queenstown councillors Matt Wong and Niki Gladding, squeezed into Lokal Kitchen and Bar.
Alliance programme manager Edward Husband gave an end-of-October deadline for the above-ground works to be completed on Man St that will enable its full use and the reopening of Lake St, closed since August 28.
‘‘We don’t anticipate closing it [Lake St] again after the end of October … subject to something going wrong perhaps,’’ Husband says.
Meantime, residents are battling daily snarl-ups caused by the closure, some days turning a five-to-six-minute car trip to the CBD into a 50-minute slog.
Alliance stakeholder manager Anita Sanghera apologised for a lack of communication that didn’t see information first come out about the Lake St closure till August 20 — ‘‘that’s a big lesson learned for us’’.
When asked by Bray what communication changes have been implemented within the Alliance to ensure community engagement happens ‘‘properly’’, Husband promised date ranges and updates.
‘‘We’re constantly learning, we don’t get it right all the time, we acknowledge that.
‘‘One of the things we’re going to do differently is give an optimistic date [for completion] and a pessimistic date, rather than just a date.
‘‘On top of that, rather than just have radio silence as we work towards that date, we will provide updates on a regular basis.’’
Following the meeting, Wong, a Fernhill resident and council liaison for the community association, said it was ‘‘great’’ for the Alliance to show up.
‘‘There was a lot of good answers that were given.
‘‘I guess the unfortunate thing is it should have happened before the road closures and the disruptions to the community.’’
Bray: ‘‘There were a few ‘sorrys’ in there [from the Alliance].
‘‘All we can do is kind of hope they learn from [them].’’
