Environment Minister Penny Simmonds has signed off on the Queenstown Lakes District Council’s Te Pūtahi-Ladies Mile variation, paving the way for another 2400 new residential units near Queenstown.
Councillor and planning and strategy committee chairman Lyal Cocks said in a statement yesterday the variation ensured more land was available to be "developed sustainably" to accommodate increased density and more affordable housing options.
The decision meant the variation would form part of the council’s proposed district plan and be considered operative from December 6.
The new zone would require a minimum density of 40 units per net hectare, for medium and higher density, resulting in a higher-density development than in other areas of the district to ensure efficient use of land.
There would also be open spaces, community facilities and a commercial centre, with a focus on providing active travel and public transport infrastructure to support a "significant shift" in moving people around the Wakatipu.
Queenstown Lakes deputy mayor Quentin Smith said there were lot of challenges with the development but overall it was a positive for the district.
Potentially, it could create a separate community which would not need to block up roads into Queenstown.
More infrastructure would need to be built for the area, and more investment was needed from the NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi.
"But it does enable a large amount of urban development in the Queenstown area. Hopefully, it will help meet some of the housing demands we have in the area," he said.
"The potential is there to have a completely different type of housing, like apartments and townhouses ... It is a substantial decision for Queenstown and Frankton."
The Ladies Mile master plan had also allowed for retail spaces and schools, so there would be no need for people living in the community to have to go into Frankton or Queenstown every day, he said.
The decision of the minister could not be appealed, Mr Smith said.
Council planning and development general manager David Wallace said the variation included provisions to ensure development in the area was integrated with public transport.
The new zone would also have "strong requirements" for stormwater treatment.
Queenstown Lakes Community Housing Trust chief executive Julie Scott said any move to get more housing into the Queenstown area had to be seen as positive.
Ladies Mile was a great location for more housing in Queenstown, she said. In terms of the trust being part of the development there was no requirement under council rules for there to be any inclusionary housing in the developments.
But she said some developers had stated they were keen to allocate some affordable housing for their developments. Some developers could see the big picture and wanted to help in a philanthropic way.
The trust was a big fan of greater density, which brought more people into more houses, she said.
The trust had come to an agreement with the developer of an area known as Spence Park, which was included in the Ladies Mile master plan.
The trust had a heads-of-agreement meeting with the landowners whereby they had agreed to provide 5% of their new sections created to the trust. The development was looking at about 400 dwellings all up.
The Flint’s Park subdivision, of about 370 homes, was the first along the Ladies Mile-Te Pūtahi to get approval under Covid-19 fast-track legislation in August this year.
