Five Mile No2 is one of the sites being earmarked for a new Queenstown school, the Ministry of Education confirmed yesterday.
The ministry received the paper, titled "School Site Selection Report, Frankton Flats, Queenstown", from its contractor, Davie Lovell Smith, this week. The final draft of the report has not yet been received.
An unspecified number of undeveloped paddocks in the Frankton Flats development, known as Five Mile No2, to distinguish it from the excavation commonly known as "Hendo's Hole", are under consideration for a school.
Ministry property management group manager Kim Shannon, of Wellington, said yesterday the report identified options for the site against site evaluation criteria.
The sites included a range of options, including a co-located secondary and primary school and stand-alone primary schools.
The options had not been considered by ministers yet.
"The size of the schools will be agreed prior to establishment of the new primary school and prior to the agreement to fund the construction of the relocated secondary school," Ms Shannon said.
"The current planning was based on secondary capacity of 1000 students, with room for further growth if required."
Site sizes considered varied from 3ha to 20ha. However, the size varied even within each option, as there were generally a number of titles. The ministry generally preferred a site of 3ha for a new primary school and 7ha for a new secondary school, she said.
Some of the sites were in private ownership and some were owned by companies. However, the ministry did not name the landowners and companies.
Ms Shannon said the report was started in early 2010 but had taken considerably longer than expected due to land sales, such as Five Mile No 2, and the "complex planning environment" in Queenstown.
"The ministry recognises that this is a very important decision for the Queenstown community and has ensured that all appropriate sites were evaluated," she said.
The ministry said it would consult Wakatipu High School to ensure its preference was included in the report for the Government, which will ultimately decide on the sites for which to begin negotiations with landowners.
Ms Shannon said the next step was a review of the report by the ministry, including consultation with the high school.
The ministry had capital funding provided in the 2009 Budget. Negotiations and site purchases would be based on processes defined by Land Information New Zealand and under the Public Works Act, Ms Shannon said. "The ministry is committed to concluding the site purchase by June 2011 as originally planned."
