Wanaka does not need Northlake, and there are potential costs to the community in having an over-supply of sections.
Those views were two expressed by Auckland planning consultant David Serjeant, giving evidence at the final day of an Environment Court appeal hearing in Wanaka yesterday.
Mr Serjeant was appearing for 27 groups and individuals opposed to the rezoning of 220ha of land on the north side of Wanaka allowing it to be subdivided into about 1500 sections.
The appeal is against a Queenstown Lakes District Council decision to adopt Plan Change 45 special zone, which was requested by Queenstown developer Michaela Ward Meehan.
In his evidence, Mr Serjeant concluded no additional residential land ''is needed at all'' in Wanaka.
However, if the court decided to approve the rezoning, he favoured ''limited and deferred development''.
Mr Serjeant was the last witness to give evidence.
Judge Jon Jackson and commissioners Anne Leijnen and John Mills have reserved their decision.
Referring to the request for the land to be rezoned, Mr Serjeant said none of the objectives put forward addressed the ''broader need for residential development''.
The objectives dealt only with matters internal to the zone.
He concluded the supply of residential land in Wanaka was sufficient for the next planning period and the risk an under-supply of sections might affect prices was ''negligible''.
Mr Serjeant raised the issue of infrastructure ''inefficiencies'' - the interest costs associated with building infrastructure to sections that did not sell.
Mr Serjeant said these ''holding costs'' could fall on the developer or the community.
He used the example of the Hamilton City Council which had significant assets in the ground in subdivisions where development ''take-up'' had been delayed, and that was affecting its willingness to provide infrastructure elsewhere.
''In economic terms, irrespective of which party gets left with the holding costs, excess serviced land represents a cost to society that should be avoided.''
''... there is a real economic cost to the community if infrastructure is provided to the Northlake subdivision, and that leads to an excess of serviced land.''
Under cross-examination by the lawyer for the developer, Warwick Goldsmith, Mr Serjeant explained developers were able to use the ''technique'' of not paying immediately for the sections they created.
Mr Serjeant said he had not considered the risks that could arise from the rezoning not proceeding, and development being carried out in a piecemeal fashion, under rural residential or rural general rules.
