Council's Lakeview boss under pressure at finance committee meeting

Paul Speedy feels the heat

The Queenstown Lakes District Council’s special projects manager, Paul Speedy (main image above), came under considerable pressure at today’s Audit, Finance and Risk committee meeting as he struggled to provide reassurance on the fate of the $2 billion Lakeview luxury apartment project.

Work at the Lakeview site has not started yet after years of delay. The project’s only New Zealand investor, Centuria, also pulled out just two weeks ago.

Ratepayers have funded a minimum of $75 million site preparation costs with revenue over 20 years expected to only match that number (and that’s if things go well). Allowing for the value of the land (around $80 million in 2025 dollars) and the depreciating value of payments over 20 years, ratepayers are already facing a very big loss.