Last week saw a lot of news relating the the council here in Queenstown. Allegations flew over two past press releases issued by CEO Duncan Field that singled out an individual and a local group. Will we see legal action and perhaps a defamation case in the near future? The council even had the time to comment on the uncertainty surrounding the 5-mile development, after dismissing a call from the community to purchase the land. And on that note, the liquidation proceedings against David Henderson have been adjourned for three weeks, despite the fact that their major creditor Hanover Finance is now on its last legs.

There's quite a lot going on in Queenstown at the moment, and if there was one theme to link everything, it would be speculation. One particular topic couldn't be shrouded in speculation any more if it tried, that being the approach of the blanket closing times for bars and clubs in Queenstown. Despite evidence to the contrary, it's anyone's guess as to what the outcome of this new ruling will be, and some of the possible outcomes are mentioned in this week's edition. Also sitting under the speculative umbrella is the possible outcome of the Five Mile ordeal, and this week's weather as David Crow has forecast snow to all levels on Wednesday.

The 2 inches of snow that Queenstown woke up too on Saturday caused the usual amount of annual chaos. It closed skifields, the airport, delayed winterfest events, and caused the usual vehicle related brain explosions which ensured that the volunteer fire bridgage siren rang for most of the day. But it did ensure some fantastic snow conditions to get the local skifields through the school holidays at least. The weekend also saw the Winter Festival draw to a successful and relatively quiet close, financial troubles continued on the local development front, and just what did Christchurch's The Press have to say about Queenstown's most popular community paper?

Uncertain economic times have not been able to put a damper on this year's American Express Winter Festival. Helped by the snow that fell in the nick of time, not only have all the region's ski fields opened, but the multitude of events that take place on the snow for this year's festival, should be more than successful. But as we approach the halfway stage of this year's festival, is it too early to speculate as to the success of next year's event? Given the strengthening of the head winds that pose a direct threat to the tourism that this area depends on, just how Queenstown will fare in the upcoming year if tourism numbers start to plateau?