Fears of a cooling economic climate sure haven't put a damper on local construction, as evidenced by the newest crane to jut into the Queenstown skyline. It remains business as usual here in Queenstown, despite Mother Nature raining on Coronet's opening celebrations. Coronet gets yet another mention in this edition of the Queenstown.com Weekly, and we also discuss the latest development in the battle over bar closing times. Also mentioned is the latest controversy to hit town regarding planned airport landing times, and we congratulate Vudu Cafe for winning the best cafe award in the Southern Lakes.

The heavy snow warning that was issued on Friday totally fizzled out and rained on Coronet's 2008 opening party, and today's mild temperatures aren't helping things much either. The torrential rain that fell on Coronet Peak completely ruined the snow that had been pushed down to the lower slopes on Friday. Things aren't looking much better on the Queenstown weather front, as today's mild temperatures aren't doing the base level snow any good. At the time of writing (12pm), it is 14 degrees in Queenstown, and David Crow has forecast the mild temperatures to continue this week which could severely hamper snowmaking.

Despite Saturday's weather, many people took the chance to check out the brand new base building facilities at Coronet Peak. And after new snow on Saturday night, thousands of skiers and boarders ventured up to Coronet Peak on Sunday to enjoy the slopes for the first time for 2008. Coronet Peak announced last week it's sustainable practice agenda, which must be applauded, and I personally gave them a9.5/10 score for effort and foresight.

Keeping with the theme was last week's Sustainable Business Seminar that was held at Crowne Plaza Queenstown on the 6th of June. Although I have yet to find any news on the success of the seminar, we've had positive comments from both an attendee and guest speaker. This looked like a great oppurtunity for locals to knowledge share, not only with local peers, but a range of experts on the topic.

As we move closer to blanket closing times for Queenstown bars and clubs, the legal battle has again reared it's head between the newly formed St George Trust and the Queenstown Lakes District Council. The latest is the overturning of the appeal by Justice French, as the concerns about alcohol abuse in Queenstown were "well founded".

We are willing to take this fight all the way until natural justice and the correct outcome has been achieved.

And with that quote, we head to the Court of Appeal. The Otago Daily Times interviewed Mr Spary and although he was surprised by the decision, he reinforced that there were significant grounds for an appeal after having sought legal advice from their QC Austin Forbes. The Queenstown-based trust owns seven bars, five in Queenstown and two in Wanaka.

Queenstown Mayor Clive Geddes backed up the council's stance by saying that he was "almost 100 percent certain" that his council would continue to defend its stance. This is after announcing in October last year that it could cost ratepayers $50,000.

With it now going to the appeals court, one could only ponder what this has cost the community. This can not only be measured in just ratepayer dollars, but also the forecast loss in revenue that benefits both the bars and stimulates sectors of the local economy, but also the damage caused in keeping with the status quo.

Also making headlines last week was news from the Queenstown Airport Corporation regarding intentions to install runway lights and allow flights until midnight. The aim is to have this ready by summer, and it attracted immediate criticism from both the Lakes Weekly Bulletin and the Mountain Scene. LWB editor Scott Stevens put blame on the back on the QAC and advised that they should concentrate on decreasing the number of diverted flights due to technologically short comings on board the planes and Civil Aviation flight path restrictions, as well as upgrading their own facilities. Apparently that would be fix the solution. Scoop from the Mountain Scene actually put some thought into it. During an interview with Frankton resident and small aircraft operator, Robert Rutherford questioned the feasibility of night flights considering that current oil prices are haemorrhaging profits of almost every airline. I'd wager that night flights will never take off in Queenstown, pun intended.

And before I head off, I'd like to congratulate Vudu Cafe for winning the title of best cafe in Queenstown and Wanaka in Cafe magazine's New Zealand's Best Cafe Awards. That's quite the task considering the amount of cafes in Queenstown, but easy given the quality of their coffee, food and service.

Nathan - Queenstown.com Editor.