No compelling social or economic case has been found to retain the Wanaka Lakeview Holiday Park in its town centre location and any further council investment in Wanaka camps should be made first at Glendhu Bay, a Queenstown Lakes District Council report says.
QLDC project manager Roger Taylor was commissioned last year to identify, consider and report on the options for future camping grounds in the Wanaka area.
The report was released yesterday.
"This report finds that there is no compelling case, either from a social or economic perspective, for the camping ground to be retained in its current location near the Wanaka town centre.
"Private providers of camping grounds in the area currently provide much of the built amenity that some users of camping grounds desire," he said.
The report was requested after calls in August 2007 from sports clubs and the Upper Clutha A&P Society to close the holiday park in favour of sports facilities.
Mr Taylor has estimated the council could lose $400,000 a year in income if it closed the Wanaka camp.
There has been strong support for new sports facilities in Wanaka, although a site has yet to be selected.
Wanaka Lakeview Holiday Park managers Gordon Martin and Alan Martin have pleaded for the public not to give up on the camp.
A 2005 review of camping grounds resulted in a proposed $5 million upgrade for the Wanaka camp, which Mr Taylor now recommended should not proceed.
The possibility of closing the central Wanaka camp was not explored at that time.
Mr Taylor said his report doubled as a feasibility study for the suggested upgrade, which a 2005 hearings committee called for by the end of 2006.
Based on analysis done before the onset of the global economic crisis, Mr Taylor said numbers of international visitors to Wanaka would increase but domestic visitors were likely to remain "fairly static".
Total visitor growth between 2008 and 2013 would be about 2.2% per year, taking it from 600,000 to 700,000.
"These expected visitor numbers, though, do not reach the 2002 peak where visitor numbers overall were around 900,000.
"Visitors in the Wanaka area who stay in camping grounds spend around $5.5 million in the area per annum. By 2013 . . . this is estimated to increase to an annual expenditure of $7.5 million.
"This is still well below the 2003 peak expenditure estimate of just below $9 million," Mr Taylor said.
Mr Taylor said there was a "considerable over-capacity [of camp sites] in the market", so removing the Wanaka camp would have a minimal effect "except over the peak summer period, when there is an excess of demand".
Gordon Martin and Alan Martin (who are not related) have strongly defended the camp in a recent interview with the Otago Daily Times, saying it was doing very good business and hosting 35,000 people a year.
The Martins were not prepared to release information about the camp's earnings, but using Holiday Park Association figures, they calculated 35,000 visitors translated into about 75,000 "bed-nights" and if each visitor spent $95-$100 a night, that could inject $7 million into the town.
The camp also housed poor people in the winter and was home for up to 70 residents involved in the snow industry, the Martins said.
Mr Taylor said his report and analysis focused on whether the camp should remain at the site or not, and if it did, what facilities should be provided.
Alternative uses of the 4.88ha site were not dealt with, he said.
Options for the council included:
-Retaining the camp in its present condition and location.
-Redeveloping it on a smaller footprint (reducing from 245 to 160 camp sites).
-Relocating to Albert Town or another greenfield site and developing a comparable camp.
-Relocating as above and developing to "kiwi camp" only (no tourist flats and cabins).
-Closing it and not replacing it (recommended).
The public can discuss the issues with councillors, Wanaka community board members and council staff on February 11 from 3pm-7pm at the Lake Wanaka Centre.
