Queenstown's district councillors will send their regional deal to the government for approval, but there is still uncertainty about their negotiating power.
The council met yesterday to approve the proposed deal for Otago Central Lakes, which will be sent to the government for consideration.
The accompanying report said the deal would make "long-term commitments that endure and focus both central and local governments on building economic growth".
"To better deliver shared objectives and outcomes between central and local government, the deals will align with local government 10-year planning cycles rather than central government’s three-year planning cycles."
Some of the key goals included working with the government to deliver better infrastructure along with healthier and more affordable housing and build economic growth.
There was also the opportunity for the councils to be involved in "light touch" partnerships with iwi, community housing organisations and other lead groups to avoid repetition or overlap of plans, the document said.
Three councillors — Niki Gladding, Esther Whitehead and deputy mayor Quentin Smith — voted against it.
Cr Gladding said there were lots of excellent "asks" in the proposal, but she had some key concerns around consultation, the private sector healthcare initiative and governance of the negotiation phase.
"If they want to negotiate on road pricing [tolls or congestion charging] then I was expecting a firm ‘yes’ from officials in response to my question about ensuring consultation.
"I didn’t get that."
Cr Gladding said on healthcare, the starting point for negotiation should never have been support for streamlining a private proposal to replace an existing public hospital with a private hospital and medical tourism — with some public services.
"I’m not saying no to a regional deal, just no to pushing ahead right now.
"In my opinion, we’re not ready. Give it a few months and we might be."
During the meeting, some councillors expressed concern about the pace at which staff had to put the deal together, and an uncertainty about what the negotiations with the government would look like.
There was also an acknowledgement that many of the suggestions — such as introducing congestion charges to deal with the region’s transport and infrastructure issues — needed government approval and possibly further consultation.
Cr Lisa Guy supported the deal, but also warned there was a lot to discuss.
"At the moment it really is unknown territory.
"We don’t understand what negotiations look like. That’s an awkward position to be in.
"But this deal looks like it’s professional and that we mean business."
Chief executive Mike Theelen said many of the deal’s aspirations had been discussed for years, but had never had the approval of successive governments.
"The current funding structure doesn’t deliver. The regional deal is a different model to achieve more."
Cr Barry Bruce said it was always going to difficult to know what the government would approve, but the region was rapidly growing and there needed to be a new way of looking at things.
Cr Gavin Bartlett told the Otago Daily Times there was a sense the government was "making up the process as it goes along", but the opportunities were there for collaboration.
Mayor Glyn Lewers praised the document, saying it was the culmination of months of hard work by staff.
"Now is the time to move forward."
