A visitor accommodation facility based in rebuilt shipping containers could open in Queenstown before the end of March, but on a smaller scale than previously planned.
Q Box Ltd was given resource consent earlier this year for a budget accommodation development at 21 Bowen St, off Gorge Rd.
The 140-room complex would be created from 70 refurbished 40ft shipping containers, fitted with ensuite bathrooms, windows, doors and outdoor patio areas.
Though the resource consent was granted, Q Box Ltd has now applied to Lakes Environmental for a new consent for a different plan, which still keeps 15 of the planned 70 container cabins, but instead adds 50 campervan sites.
The proposed plan also contains communal facilities, waste dumping facility and parking areas.
Project manager for Q Box Ltd, Peter Crowe, said the original plans will still be completed, but probably in several stages.
He said the company had five years to complete the original project under the current consent, and it was still the intention to finalise it within this timeframe.
He cited the financial climate as the reason for the change of plans.
"The company owners are still confident about Queenstown, but after the recession set in, business seems to have slowed down in Queenstown. Therefore, it was decided it might be better to start out slow."
He stressed that Q Box Ltd was still "extremely confident" about the concept of container-accommodation, which he said had worked well in other countries, including Australia.
The 1.25ha site, which has been vacant for years since it housed the former Bush Creek Health Camp, has now been cleared of unkempt plantings, ready for landscaping and construction of the infrastructure on the site.
