A small team of business leaders is ready to dive in and begin managing the fundraising for Wanaka's proposed new $11.8million swimming pool.
All the team needs before starting work is for the Queenstown Lakes District Council to give the go-ahead for the pool project.
The lack of visible fundraising was raised by Wanaka resident John Walker at the council's 10-year plan hearing in Wanaka yesterday.
Deputy mayor Lyal Cocks told the Otago Daily Times during a break at the hearing he had convened a team to tackle the community fundraising issue, although he preferred not to name names at this point.
Mr Cocks said ideas from a workshop had been passed on to designers, and these included a 25m pool, as well as such things as spa and therapeutic pools.
However, the team needed to know what the target for fund raising would be, and when the project would start.
The council asked those submitting to the 10-year plan to say whether they wanted the pool project to begin now, with rates charged from 2017, or deferred until 2023.
Of those who responded to the question, about 190 considered it should start now, and 60 called for it to be deferred.
However, Mr Walker said 89 of those calling for the early start were from the Wakatipu area, not from Wanaka.
''Why are 89 people in Wakatipu saying what Wanaka people should do?''
He considered submissions in favour of the early start came from a ''very small number of pool users'' showing ''quite a selfish attitude'', and he called on the council to ensure it analysed the figures to gauge the true level of public support.
The pool, if paid for entirely by rates, would mean an average annual cost of $184 per Wanaka ratepayer.
Community board chairwoman Rachel Brown said the pool was the ''big ticket item'' for Wanaka and written submissions had produced a ''pretty loud message'' to get on with it.
However, an average rate increase of $184 was ''huge and significant''.
''I would like to make it clear that is unacceptable.
''We must do our best to reduce that.''
She asked the council for support and expertise to set up a fund raising mechanism.
Mayor Vanessa van Uden said the council would deal with the sale of council land in Wanaka to help fund the pool.
But it would not be ''stepping up'' to plan Wanaka's community fundraising campaign.
''In the end, it is up to the Wanaka community.''
She urged Wanaka people to ''fundraise your hearts out''.
