In this week's Behind the Story, James Beech takes a ''big picture'' look at future growth in the Wakatipu Basin, with the help of the Queenstown Lakes District Council, to see where New Zealand's fastest-growing centre has room to manoeuvre.
The average total population of the Lakes district in 2011 was 46,612, or 28,440 residents and 18,172 visitors, which is projected to snowball to 67,439, or 44,093 residents and 23,346 visitors, by 2031.
The average age of the district's population is projected to rise from just under 36 in 2011 to nearly 42 in 2031.
There were 12,625 dwellings in the entire district, as of a year ago, but plenty of capacity already exists for a further 24,484 dwellings in the district.
Where is Queenstown going to house an expected 20,000 extra people?
1 ARROWTOWN SOUTH, also known as requested plan change 39, aimed to rezone about 30ha of rural general zoned land for up to 215 residences and 12.2ha of open space, including 4.6km of publicly accessible trails and footpaths and a small village area. The area was between McDonnell Rd and Centennial Ave and bounded along its southern boundary by the Arrowtown Golf Course.
Commissioners refused consent in September 2010. However, the plan change 29 hearing in the Environment Court confirmed the boundary, subject to a minor amendment.
The developers behind plan change 39 have now asked the Environment Court whether they can radically amend plan change 39 to match the court's decision on plan change 29.
2 SPEARGRASS FLAT RD CAMPUS is a consented $3 million to $5 million new school to ease enrolment pressure on the St Joseph's School, Queenstown, and offer Catholic education to families in the wider Wakatipu Basin.
The campus for 112 primary school-aged children is ready to be developed, pending funds, after the remaining two pairs of appellants withdrew their application in June last year to appeal the High Court decision.
Speargrass will consist of a 480sq m classroom block and a 220sq m administration block. Management will be retained by St Joseph's School. A total of 43 car parks will be provided, along with playing fields and a hard court area.
3 ARTHURS POINT has 265 dwellings and space available for 450 to be built.
4 QUEENSTOWN has more land awaiting development than meets the eye at ground level. A view from above reveals dirt tracks where subdivisions are waiting to spring up.
A $50 million convention centre for between 750 and 1000 people is being considered by the council on part of the 4ha of council-owned land at the top of Man St, overlooking central Queenstown and Lake Wakatipu. The centre would occupy an estimated 1.4ha, leaving the council with 2.55ha.
More five and four-star hotels, plus luxury visitor and residential apartments, are allowed on the remaining 4ha of vacant land at Kawarau Falls Station.
Kelvin Heights has provision for more homes a short distance up and around Deer Park Heights. There are 581 houses now, and a further 1844 dwellings can be built.
5 FRANKTON FLATS contains 69ha of unremarkable land known as the ''last remaining greenfields site within the urban growth boundary of Queenstown'' and continues to be hotly contested by developers.
A $125 million retail complex, with a Countdown supermarket as a major tenant at the abandoned Five Mile site in Queenstown, was cleared for development after a judicial review instigated by Shotover Park Ltd was dropped on April 29.
Shotover Park, the council, Lakes Environmental Ltd and Queenstown Gateway Ltd settled the issue out of court on confidential terms ''acceptable to all parties''. The seven-building complex is expected to be built in two stages and open by Christmas 2014.
Foodstuffs South Island Ltd, behind the proposed Pak'n Save, and H&J Smith, behind Crossroads Properties Ltd, behind the proposed Mitre 10 Mega, both hope the willingness to reach an agreement demonstrated by parties interested in Frankton Flats will extend to progressing the development of their big-box retail plans nearby.
6 SHOTOVER COUNTRY is a new $300 million residential development on 120ha of rural land between the Shotover River and Lake Hayes Estate. It is considered one of last pockets available for major residential development in the Wakatipu, with 750 homes planned.
The Government confirmed last month a new $14 million primary school on 3ha at the heart of Shotover Country was scheduled to open in 2015, to cater for about 500 pupils.
There were about 1635 primary school-age children in the Wakatipu as of July last year and the population was expected to grow to about 2400 by 2020, Education Minister Hekia Parata said.
7 LAKE HAYES ESTATE had 284 houses, but land for only 74 more, as of April last year.
The Queenstown Lakes Community Housing Trust called last month for expressions of interest to buy commercially zoned vacant land at 3 Onslow Rd, valued at $350,000, and construct a building for a cafe-bar and manage the commercial operation.
8 KAWARAU FALLS BRIDGE is arguably the most publicly in-demand development in Wakatipu, but a replacement two-lane bridge for the 87-year-old one-lane structure is not expected to be built by the New Zealand Transport Agency until after 2015.
Commissioners recommended to the council to approve the construction, operation and maintenance of a new bridge, with minor conditions, last month.
The agency, as the requiring authority, has 30 working days to advise the council whether it accepts, or rejects, the recommendations in whole or in part, or whether it proposes to modify the requirement.
9 JACKS POINT is a 1200ha settlement to include more than 1300 residential homes, restaurants, shops and a luxury lodge.
Interest in property increased when the estate remained inside the reduced enrolment zone of Remarkables Primary School, Frankton, announced a year ago.
10 HENLEY DOWNS is the new special zone of 520ha of land within the Jacks Point Resort zone. The private plan change request by RCL Queenstown Pty Ltd was approved by a council subcommittee last month and
opened to public consultation.
Rezoning would enable an increase in residential development from 1300 residences up to 2400. Lakeshore protection and an ''agricultural, conservation and recreation area'' area involved.
More than 20 submissions were received by the council by the end of April, about half in support and half opposing the private plan change request.
Remarkables Park Ltd and Shotover Park Ltd were in general support, although they sought clarification about the type of development which would take place. The Otago Regional Council requested the plan change be declined unless the district council was satisfied any risk of liquefaction, fan flooding, wastewater and natural hazards were understood and addressed.
The Queenstown and District Historical Society submitted the applicant had given the wrong name to the development, saying it should be called Hanley Downs, after the 19th-century farmer Jack Hanley.
