Mayor Jim Boult said the government had waded through a short list of 802 proposals, and the council had been informed its applications for the Wanaka lakefront development, the Cardrona wastewater pipeline project and wastewater treatment scheme and upgrades to the Queenstown Events Centre had been declined.
While he said that was disappointing, he said he was grateful for the $85 million announced in June for stage one of the Queenstown arterial project and the town's CBD street upgrades.
"These projects will give a big boost to our local economy and support more than 300 jobs in this district.
"I for one am grateful for the opportunity to expedite these projects that will help stimulate other key private and public investments in and around the town centre.
“We had obviously hoped for further good news but the scale of interest in this initiative demonstrates how important it is for the Government to keep investing in our nation’s economy,” Mr Boult said.
“Although these projects haven’t made the final 150 proposals, we appreciate this has no doubt been a tough process for Ministers and Cabinet considering they have had to scrutinise 1,924 initial submissions.
"Having the opportunity to seek part of this limited funding has helped the Council look at all opportunities for post-COVID-19 recovery and I am confident we have some strong plans in place and still to come.”
The council was still committed to delivering the remaining three projects and would pursue "any suitable funding opportunities'' to help, he said.
