Mr Saunders has been a director of Lakes Leisure Ltd since it was created by the Queenstown Lakes District Council in June last year.
The five-member board was recently reduced to four, following the resignation of Manukau businessman Richard Beddie, chief executive and director of Fitness New Zealand and board member of Manukau Leisure Services.
Chairwoman Jane Taylor, a Queenstown lawyer and resource management specialist, sought to step down from her role but remains on the board.
The other directors are Queenstown businessmen Peter Faul and Jeff Turner, who are both former Queenstown Events Centre trustees.
Mr Saunders has previously served as a director on H. and J. Smith Ltd and Pyne Gould Guinness. He is the chairman of Vetlife, an association of South Island veterinary organisations.
He was a beef and sheep farmer in Northern Southland for 40 years until moving to Wanaka several years ago.
Mr Saunders became chairman of the Upper Clutha Sports and Recreation (USCR) group in 2007.
The lobby group represented more than 1700 people and called on the council to review sporting facilities in the wake of sports club growth and increased participation.
The council then appointed Mr Saunders to chair Wanaka's sports facilities working party, which came up with several recommendations for a new sports stadium and playing fields, but favouring the site of the Wanaka Lakeview Holiday Park.
The council has yet to implement any of the recommendations.
Last month, it decided to delay building the $10 million stadium until 2011, while the proposed $11.5 million aquatic centre would be delayed even further until 2014-16.
Mrs Taylor had asked to step down so she could dedicate more time to her other commercial and personal interests, council chief executive Duncan Field said this week.
Mr Saunders said Mrs Taylor had been an excellent chairwoman and was skilled at bringing the board and staff together to work as a team.
It was a challenging time for the company, as its scope was growing.
The company had also opened Alpine Aqualand in Queenstown.
But he was looking forward to the challenge of being chairman, Mr Saunders said..
Mr Beddie's decision to resign was made after a council decision on August 28 to reduce the size of company boards.
It was an amicable solution, accepted with regret.
Mr Beddie had been a valuable contributor, Mr Field said.
