The Ballantyne Road site is a large, flat, undeveloped space in public ownership, and QLDC considers it will be a major contributor to active lifestyles through the use of formal sport and informal recreation and play. The site is within 300 metres of the Te Kura o Take Kārara School, its sports fields, swimming pool and the Wānaka Recreation Centre, and directly adjoins Three Parks Development which is a planned urban centre, providing for commercial, business, residential and recreational activities, and will be accessible by public transport, cycling and walking.
The Queenstown Lakes - Central Otago Sub-Regional Sport & Recreation Facility Strategy specifically recommends “a multi-field sport hub park is developed in the Wānaka area, with a minimum of four fields (preferably six) to meet increasing demand for football fields from participation growth as well as larger scale sporting events for rugby, football, league and touch”.
The objectives of the masterplan were to:
- Consider the Site over a 20-year period and the need to allow for future uses, changes in use and future-proofing in terms of space allocation;
- Offer a balance between organised sports/recreation use and major events, and the provision of space and facilities for informal recreation.
- Cater for the “whole of the community” in providing recreation and leisure opportunities for all, with associated amenities.
- Provide a connection to other community facilities and linkage with commercial/retail and surrounding residential developments via walking and cycling routes.
During the masterplanning process, Boffa Miskell and project partner Global Leisure Group ran various engagement opportunities to ensure key stakeholders were part of the overall project journey, through high-level involvement and co-design. Stakeholders included Te Ao Marama, Aukaha, various sport and recreation stakeholder organisations, and the Upper Clutha and wider community.
Site analysis, planning context, engagement, sport and recreation needs analysis allowed our project team to come up with three masterplan options which were presented to key stakeholders and QLDC. A preferred one was selected and developed further and presented to QLDC as the final draft masterplan.
