During the lengthy deliberations, first-term councillor Cody Tucker, of Wanaka, said he was concerned the controversial civic and commercial centre in the heart of Queenstown’s CBD had been "overly managed".
He suggested moves towards a pre-determined outcome, a new council building on the Stanley St-fronting site, negated the point of consultation.
He said it was "abundantly clear" the community was stressed about being ignored and he believed that would further degrade the relationship between the council and its community, which was "at an all-time low".
Cr Tucker noted the council was telling the community to "brace for a costly and uninspiring 10 years", and said he believed there was some concern about open-ended costs.
"Not only is it our community’s money, they will also have to pay the opportunity cost of pursuing this project in a financially constrained future."
While he could see the sense of a planned land swap, involving part of Ballarat St and reserve land to the east and Frankton’s Robertson St or elsewhere, and believed the vision of Project Manawa was admirable, "my role here isn’t to ignore the wider picture".
"I can’t resolve how ... spending more time and scarce resource on this now is reasonable.
"I haven’t been given any confidence to suggest we’ve demonstrated sufficient oversight or control of joint ventures to pursue another one at this time."
When it came to fiscal responsibilities, "it will send a message to the community that when times are tough and trust is low, we’ll spend our efforts on enabling better office spaces for our organisation".
Cr Gladding was concerned funding had not been allocated in the draft long-term plan until year 7 or 8 — and would potentially be further deferred — and questioned why money would be spent now on investigating where a council building should be then.
"... We’re really tight — so to me ... it’s just wasted money.
"I think this project is for another council down the line."
Mr Lewers disagreed.
"It may well be [another council’s decision], but it is incumbent on us to make sure that the options available to the next council are open, and I think the resolutions before us allow that to happen."
The motion, largely as recommended, was passed, although Mr Lewers had to use his casting vote to adopt the land exchange and again to direct the chief executive to report back to the council with a scope of works programme to obtain ministerial approval.
Crs Tucker, Gladding, Whitehead, Gavin Bartlett, Matt Wong and Quentin Smith all voted against the motion.
