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MOVES AFOOT TO PREPARE QUEENSTOWN DEVELOPMENT SITE

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October, 2021

Queenstown Playcentre will be moving to a new site sometime in the
next 18 months to make way for new development moves.
Based at Stanley Street since 1980, the playcentre was told by the
Ministry of Education in August itll be moved on within the next 18
months.
The neighbouring site currently occupied by Queenstown Arts Centre
will be cleared in six months, despite opposition from the
Queenstown Art Society.
It was reported earlier this month thats to make way for either a
temporary carpark or construction laydown site initially, before a new
civic and cultural centres eventually built.
Queenstowns council cant confirm if the playcentres site will also be
part of the new civic and cultural centre, but says an update will be
provided to Queenstown Playcentre and the wider community in due
course.
Playcentre president Sarah Fredric says the relocation doesnt come as
a surprise, given the councils been discussing the land with its owner,
Ministry of Education, for close to five years.
The two reached an agreement in May, but Fredric says theyve been
assured the playcentre wont be moved until a new location is available
and ready at Queenstown Primary School.
The school, on Robins Road, recently undertook a master planning
exercise, one outcome of which was to establish an early childhood
education centre on site.
Located 500 metres from the playcentres current site, the new digs are
still in the planning stages.
We just want to make the best of it and there are some positives & it
will be warm and double-glazed with lower maintenance
requirements, Fredric says.
The playcentres talking to its members about the move and, despite
some early reservation, excitements building.
We have a lot of members who love our current site.
The outdoor space is particularly important to some of our members
who may not have a lot of space in their own homes.
Were also fortunate to have mature fruit trees that our tamariki love
to pick apples and plums from.
She hopes the new site will have the same amount of indoor and
outdoor space, and established gardens.
If we had carte blanche and we could have what we wanted, wed ask
for essentially the same as what we have now & but we know theres a
cost involved.
Theres currently no confirmed date for relocation.

Source: Mountain Scene