The Darby Partners-designed golf course at Jacks Point situated on the elbow of Lake Wakatipu and at the foot of the Remarkables mountain range.
Queenstown residents are vowing to fight a controversial proposal that could see float planes landing on picturesque Lake Wakatipu 22 times a day during the busy summer months.
Blenheim couple Brent and Shona Collins have applied for resource consent to operate two commercial float planes on the lake so they can take tourists on scenic flights to Glenorchy and back. They want to make 16 take- offs and landings on the lake per day during winter and 22 per day during the summer.
But they face a wall of opposition from residents worried about how such an operation woud impact on other lake-users and by the prospect of having noisy planes buzzing in and out of Queenstown Bay all day.
"This type of activity will seriously disrupt the peaceful Queenstown experience of residents and visitors alike, " says Laurel Parent, who with husband Phil is spearheading the opposition campaign
"This operation will add to the already congested Queenstown Bay waterborne activities, increase noise and visual degradation and compromise the safety of kayakers, private boat owners and commercial operators. In addition, pedestrians, outdoor diners, beachgoers and other waterfront users will be subjected to low- flying aircraft from 8.30am to 8pm every day."
Phil Parent said since news of the proposal was made public they had been inundated with phone calls and emails from people opposed to having a commercial float plane operation on the lake.
One of the main reasons people were opposed to the idea was the potential dangers of having a plane taking off and landing in a busy stretch of water.
"There's a lot of silly people doing silly things in Queenstown Bay and the last thing we need to throw into the mix is a float plane operation, " he said. "It will be noisy and it will be dangerous."
Chris Bradley, who owns the only parasailing company permitted to operate from Queenstown, is backing the Parents' campaign.
"We have some major concerns and will not be able to operate anywhere close to a float plane with our parasail boat, which would in turn kill our business so we will be objecting strongly to it, " he said.
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