The Queenstown Lakes District Council will decide what its position should be at a public-excluded discussion during the strategy committee meeting on Tuesday. Council's general manager of policy and planning Phil Pannett said councillors would likely discuss whether the council should provide its own evidence or rely on the New Zealand Transport Agency - given the bridge is a state highway and managed by the agency.
At a notice of requirement hearing in Queenstown in February, independent commissioners Denis Nugent and Jane Taylor heard from submitters on the NZTA's plan for the bridge.
At present, the bridge is one-lane, controlled by traffic lights and gets severely congested during peak times.
Nine submissions were received on the notice of requirement and, while none opposed the project, the NZTA acknowledged three submitters did not totally agree with the agency's design.
Yesterday, Mr Pannett said there were ''two appeals at the moment'' - from the Frankton Residents Association and Remarkables Park Ltd. Essentially, ''what those two appeals are seeking is that the bridge is built higher up at the Frankton end'', he said, enabling a connection to Robertson St.
Council discussions on the issue would be public-excluded purely for legal issues.
Strategy committee chairman Leigh Overton agreed, saying the ''council can't contaminate the process or get itself into a position it shouldn't''.
Mr Pannett said the money for the bridge had not yet been allocated, ''so all NZTA are doing are getting the planning side of it [done]''.
