The subdued development Queenstown has been experiencing over the past few years will let all parties consolidate their investments and usher in a new upswing of ''sensible growth'' in the foreseeable future.
Finance Minister and Clutha Southland MP Bill English was optimistic about such an outlook when asked if there were any measures he wanted to see taken in the Queenstown Lakes district to encourage more developers to invest.
Five years ago, there were major multimillion-dollar construction projects under way in downtown Queenstown, such as the post office precinct, the Church St block and the Mountaineer building, while Kawarau Falls Station, Remarkables Park and plans for Remarkables Primary School were at the peak of development.
However, construction has slowed in the past couple of years, most evidently on Frankton Flats, where retail projects are mired in legal rows.
''I think the council is doing the things it can do and that it's getting its own house in order and reducing costs, which makes them look like a council that wants to do business because they know how to do business,'' Mr English said, in reference to the organisational review of the Queenstown Lakes District Council.
''We can help them a bit with the legislation we're going to pass shortly about housing, helping housing affordability and you're starting to see rising confidence here.''
It had not done Queenstown any harm for its boom to taper off and for everyone to consolidate, Mr English said.
''That's a good platform for what I think will be a good three to five-year period of sensible growth,'' he said.
