Waitaki Mayor Gary Kircher said the Waitaki District Council would push ahead and seek expressions of interest by accommodation providers for two parcels of land at the Oamaru waterfront, but would adopt a ''wait-and-see'' approach with the market, which could change significantly before the study was complete.
''We know the demand [for accommodation] is increasing, but the issue is around the supply - it is also increasing,'' Mr Kircher said.
''And we're better to wait until that settles down.
''There's talk of potentially another ... 60 to 70 rooms without doing anything.
''Some of them will happen, some of them won't happen, some other ones might come forward as well; we're getting more Airbnb, Bookabach type operations setting up all the time. People are responding already to the growth and it is a bit too fluid at the moment. Let's just see where we get to.''
In August, the Otago Daily Times reported the council had contracted Christchurch-based consultant Chris Black to study the district's visitor accommodation market, and yesterday, Mr Kircher said it was the consultant's advice to ditch the study.
Mr Kircher told the ODT at the end of June the council had been approached by three developers interested in building hotel accommodation at Oamaru Harbour.
Yesterday, he said the two parcels of land at the waterfront were fee simple land which would support ''different options'' and the council would be seeking expressions of interest for ''hotel, motel, or apartments'' on the two sites, probably before Christmas.
''We'll see what the market says itself, in terms of what people come forward with.
''From my point of view, it's just that we are open-minded. People can bring us their ideas. We'll look at: is it adding to the area, is it adding to the market? Is it someone with connections who is going to help try to bring more visitors here and grow the pie?''
He said operators' records would be taken into account as would whether the development would add to the image of the town.
''We're absolutely looking at all of those things to make sure we have the best result for Oamaru.''
