The Wanaka showgrounds and camping ground site has re-emerged as the preferred site for Wanaka's new $10.6 million indoor sports facility and sports fields.
Queenstown Lakes district councillors will be asked to confirm the project next week.
Mayor Clive Geddes said yesterday the decision would be a "milestone" for the Upper Clutha community and enable an "exciting and desperately needed project" to become a reality.
The issue had been debated for several years and it was now time to move on, Mr Geddes said.
"The important thing now is to settle on the site and for us all to work together to make sure it meets the needs of the community," he said.
If well designed, the facility could cater for all the organisations that presently share the site, Mr Geddes said.
If the site is confirmed and the planning process is not interrupted by an Environment Court appeal, an indoor stadium could be built by the end of 2013.
Space would be left for a swimming pool.
The biggest impact will be felt by the Lakeview Holiday Park, which may only be able to continue in its present form for two more summers.
The Upper Clutha A and P Society fears losing show space to car parks and sports fields and the Upper Clutha Rugby Club is concerned about a loss of autonomy and losing its club rooms.
Before the sports facilities can go ahead, the council needs to create a reserve management plan, redesignate the site for its new purpose and raise money to boost the $10.6 million budget for the project in the council's long-term plan.
While the showgrounds site has always been the preferred option of a council-appointed working party, further investigations were made into five alternative "green-field" sites last year, on the recommendation of the Wanaka Community Board.
QLDC community services general manager Paul Wilson backed the working party recommendation in a report released yesterday.
His report also recommends the council work on an option to retain a limited camping ground at the site and that a concept plan be drawn up to cater for all the organisations that would share the site.
Mr Wilson said the most significant "drawback" with the green-field option was the need to acquire land.
Mr Wilson also says in his report the $10.6 million budget "will not be the full amount of funding required to deliver even a modest recreation facility.
Additional funding will be required from other major funding bodies."
The working party also noted $10 million would be required for capital costs, excluding GST, capital expenditure for new sports fields and ancillary expenses, such as reorganising the Upper Clutha A and P Society's existing facilities.
The budget also excludes the proposed $11.5 million aquatic centre.
In the meantime, the council is being asked to set aside $300,000 for improvements to the existing Wanaka swimming pool.
Sport and Recreation New Zealand and the New Zealand Recreation Association, during a peer review last year, said the council should ensure the aquatic and indoor sport facilities were located together, while co-location of outdoor sports fields with a sports centre was "a lower priority".
The sports bodies also recommended the pool and indoor facilities be built at the same time instead of with a proposed lag of eight years.
Sparc and the NZRA recommended the sports facility be built on a "green-fields" site as part of the Three Parks development, because it was a large, "clean" site and, assuming there was a willing vendor, offered the least opposition.
"If Three Parks does not prove viable, the showground site is a good backup that would still be a sound option," they said.
