The projects are designed to address, respectively, the lack of a decent-sized, well-resourced public hospital, which forces many to travel long distances out of town for treatment, and increasingly crippling traffic jams on Queenstown’s main roads.
Plans for both "anchor projects" would be attached to a pitch to government by Queenstown-Lakes and Central Otago district councils, for a "regional deal".
The construction of the hospital and gondola would be funded by private interests, with plans for the hospital to be leased long-term to Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora, which would also operate it.
Local infrastructure consultant Ross Copland, who is heading both projects, said the hospital would service the Queenstown-Lakes and Central Otago districts.
It was likely to be built in stages, but key services it would provide, which Queenstown’s limited-capacity Lakes District Hospital (LDH) does not, would be obstetric-led maternity care and treating acute injuries from the likes of mountainbiking and skiing/snowboarding accidents.
"Any main centre, you’d be able to get sort of pain relief when you’re having a baby, but you can’t do that here.
"So for pretty much anything that goes even moderately wrong, or you even need pain relief, you’ve got to get shipped out of town, and that’s not without its risks," Mr Copland, who is a former chief executive of the Infrastructure Commission, said.
Likewise, a base hospital could handle trauma cases which LDH could not.
Mr Copland said given Queenstown’s rapid resident and visitor population growth, airport and other infrastructure, the resort was the right place for the base hospital.
At least four "plausible" sites on the Frankton Flats have been identified, including LDH’s existing location.
"And initial work we’ve done with an architect suggests it will probably be a three- or four-level structure.
"You might see privately-delivered health services being co-located with that public hospital offering."
He said the project could still be pursued even if it was not included in a regional deal, or the government was not interested in the lease-back model.
As for plans for the new Dunedin hospital, controversially being redrawn by the government, the facility would still be needed for more serious cases such as brain surgery, he said.
However, having a better hospital in Queenstown could mean fewer patients from the wider region being sent to Dunedin.
Dunedin Mayor Jules Radich said the project did not detract from the need for a tertiary hospital in the city.
It would not have the level of care that Dunedin provided, which covered the whole lower half of the South Island, he said.
"They’re never going to be able to have cardiothoracic surgery, for instance, oncology and a great many other specialties."
Mr Copland said the planned gondola, which could be extended to Ladies Mile and the southern corridor, would have "enormous capacity" — using 10-seater cabins just as Skyline Queenstown does for its Bob’s Peak gondola.
Running it over Queenstown Hill, between the council’s Boundary St carpark and the Frankton bus hub, would take just 19 minutes.
"From memory the capacity is over 2000 people per hour per direction, so that equates to something like four or five times the entire bus network capacity at the moment."
He estimated the gondola link would cost about $200m.
"It’s not an insignificant investment, but when you compare it with some of the road-based transport projects and investments of that scale, they are delivering almost no or very low transport benefits, whereas this project will deliver thousands of people per hour around town."
"It’s very fast to build, 18 months to two years, [and] it’s very affordable [compared with other solutions]."
He expected the gondola would adopt the same $2 fares as local buses, but believed overseas visitors who did not pay rates or taxes should pay more.
Queenstown Mayor Glyn Lewers confirmed his council had put in a register of interest with the government for a regional deal before Christmas.
Mr Lewers said it had teamed up with Central Otago District Council and Otago Regional Council on their bid, and was working "very closely" with them to get final submissions to government by the February 28 deadline.
Initially, the government planned to hand-pick five regions for a regional deal, under which both parties would jointly commit to address infrastructure issues, including housing and roading to enable economic growth. But late last year, the government announced all councils could apply, after first registering their interest.
The government will choose who it will partner with for the first regional deal by the end of this year, and plans to have three deals in place by October 2026.
