At a meeting yesterday, Queenstown Lakes District Council senior policy analyst Ralph Henderson presented the committee with a report on noise issues in the town centre.
"Our current regime creates a number of inconsistencies as the town centre has low noise levels that are difficult to comply with," he said in the report.
His recommendation to the councillors was to consider a full plan change process as the best way to address the noise issue.
"The community should have a chance to debate the issue. It is not a simple issue, which is why it should be dealt with more comprehensively. Most of the councillors on the committee favoured the approach.
"This issue has been discussed for as long as I have been on the council. It is going to be the most difficult decision faced by the council, and it could be seen as a development handbrake. But it is a conflict that needs a solution.
"Solving this situation for the CBD is the most important piece of work we can do," Cr John Mann said.
Cr Cath Gilmour said she agreed with Cr Mann.
"It might be a can of worms, but we should tackle it now," she said.
Committee chairwoman Gillian Macleod also supported the recommendation.
"I think more work is required to understand how we can go about implementing a plan change. It should be done before we get more related applications from the bars," Cr Macleod said.
Cr Lyal Cocks disagreed and suggested waiting six to 12 months before considering a plan change.
"We are already starting to get a precedence on this matter.
It would be wise to tend to these matters on an individual basis instead," Cr Cocks said.
Former Queenstown mayor Warren Cooper, who lives in central Queenstown and has been outspoken about noise from bars in the town centre, addressed the committee during the public forum yesterday.
"I think outsourcing noise control to Lakes Environmental was a wrong move of the council.
They did, for example, allow Guilty Bar to extend their hours for outside entertainment," Mr Cooper said.
"Noise management plans are not worth the paper they are written on. I want to see a vibrant town centre, but do not see how it can be compatible with outdoors trading," he said.
All councillors on the committee, except Cr Cocks, voted in favour of authorising work on the proposed plan change.
A working party consisting of Crs Mann, Gilmour and Mel Gazzard was appointed to start the process.
