Rural growth in the Queenstown Lakes district is more rampant than council figures show.
A report to the Queenstown Lakes District Council's strategy committee in May showed a 68% increase in rural dwellings from 1996 to 2006.
However, the council's senior policy analyst, Daniel Wells, told the Queenstown Times council staff were compiling an updated report which would show more startling figures.
"We are doing some updated monitoring to improve our data.
A lot more development has occurred than we thought," he said.
The council was pulling together figures provided by Lakes Environmental to form a "giant map" of how development had changed over the past 10 years, he said.
The figures would form the basis of a discussion document for Queenstown Lakes residents to have a say about rural development in the district.
Council staff were compiling the discussion document on the effectiveness and efficiency of the rural general zone, which would be released for public consultation subject to council approval.
The strategy committee decided to consult the public on rural growth at its meeting in May.
Mr Wells' report to the meeting recommended the consultation to address some of the issues raised in a draft district plan report monitoring the effectiveness and efficiency of the rural general zone.
The report questioned whether landscape values and rural character were being appropriately managed in the rural general zone of the district plan.
It showed there were 1225 dwellings in the rural general zone, a large number of which were in the Wakatipu basin between Arrowtown and Frankton.
The number of dwellings rose from 882 in 1996 to 1485 in 2006, an increase of 68%.
By comparison, the amount of dwellings in the other parts of the district increased 49% over that period.
"Historic approvals continue to influence current decision-making; resulting in approvals that may not have been appropriate had so much development not already occurred or been consented in the vicinity."There were at least 485 rural building platforms in the rural general zone yet to be built on.
"The option of making subdivision and development non-complying or even prohibited in some parts of the zone is not discounted."Mr Wells said the district's rural general zoning was somewhat unique in that it used the discretionary activity status extensively and did not prescribe minimum lot sizes as is usually the case throughout the country.
"Concerns are raised as to the amount of development that has been consented in the rural general zone and whether this is giving rise to a sustainable settlement pattern," he said.
He said the public consultation would ask the public if it wanted to reduce the amount of control over development and subdivision, continue with the status quo, amend the current regime to increase the control over landscape matters, provide increased direction on where development and subdivision may be appropriate, or significantly decrease the amount of development and subdivision that can occur.
He said he aimed for the discussion document to be ready for approval by the strategy committee at its meeting next month.
Public consultation was expected to be launched early next year.
