Canterbury township on verge of major growth spurt

Prebbleton’s residential area could increase by more than 80 per cent if plan change applications before the Selwyn District Council are all approved.

A new Prebbleton plan change application takes the number of applications before the district council to three, amounting to about 1520 new homes.

This would represent an 82 per cent increase on the district council’s current estimate of about 1850 dwellings in the town.

Prebbleton’s potential huge growth comes as nearly 300 submitters lodge their opposition and support to the 2000-home Lincoln South proposal and 2100-home west Rolleston proposal on Dunns Crossing Rd.

The new plan change application is from Birchs Village Ltd, for rezoning about 36.5ha at Birchs Rd, south Prebbleton. The district council has named it Plan Change 79. It would allow for about 400 residential lots.

District council staff are currently reviewing the PC79 request to ensure it is adequate to put to councillors to allow it to be publicly notified.

The PC79 request follows two others for Prebbleton – PC68, which would allow for about 820 residential lots on 67.5ha, and PC72, which would allow for about 300 residential lots on 28.7ha.

The PC68 request is from Urban Holdings Ltd, Suburban Estates Ltd and Cairnbrae Developments Ltd, for land between Trents and Hamptons Rd in south-west Prebbleton.

The district council has requested further information from the developers, before ensuring the application is adequate to put to councillors to allow it to be publicly notified.

The PC72 request is the only one of the three requests to have already made it to the submission process.

At their meeting last week, councillors accepted the application, from Trices Road Rezoning Group, which means it can now go out for public notification.

It relates to land on the south-west of the town, generally located between Trices, Birchs, and Hamptons Rds, near land recently acquired by the district council for development as a park.

Prebbleton Community Association chairman Peter Hunter said the area was already seeing much growth with the addition of two new retirement villages, which would ultimately see hundreds of new residents settle in the town.

“In five years’ time, it could well be a busy little retirement centre,” Hunter said.

He neither supported nor opposed the addition of up to 1520 new homes which could become possible under the three plan change applications.

“As an association, we are still getting our head around it.

“We are still trying to have conversations with council and say: ‘What does this actually mean?’,” Hunter said.

“I see progress as positive, but it needs to be done well and thoughtfully,” he added.