Queenstown Lakes District Councillors adopted a revised Te Pūtahi Ladies Mile Masterplan at yesterday’s meeting of Full Council, and approved notification to begin for changes to the land use rules in the Proposed District Plan, to enable its implementation.

Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) Mayor Jim Boult said Council’s intent to proactively plan for the Te Pūtahi Ladies Mile area has been extensively signalled and debated publicly since May 2019.

“While there remain concerns for some over the proposed development of the area and the management of traffic congestion, it is also evident the area will be developed over time. This has already been demonstrated by the recent referrals of the two fast-track consents by the Minister of the Environment to the Environmental Protection Agency.

“Yesterday’s decision was challenging and I reiterate my strongly held view that transport solutions must be in place to address congestion before development can take place. However, this is a further step towards providing certainty for the community and clear expectations for developers for how the area could change over time,” Mayor Boult said.

Council adopted a Masterplan for the area in October 2021, however requested that a number of matters be given further consideration, such as funding and management of stormwater, the location of education facilities and further ecological planning.

QLDC General Manager Planning and Development Tony Avery said significant work and engagement had gone into refining the plan and addressing the matters raised.

“Through the refinement process, we’ve removed the centralised stormwater management system and replaced it with new parks and open spaces. We’ve also proposed rules to address concerns about visitor accommodation in residential areas, addressed landowner concerns around the minimum density for the high density area, factored in new recommendations for avifauna and biodiversity and preferred locations for education facilities.

“Traffic congestion has consistently been raised as a key concern if development in this area was to proceed. As we’ve previously said, addressing this will take a coordinated effort from a range of agencies as well as changes to the way residents and visitors travel around the district.

“The proposed planning provisions include policies based on a number of physical road, active travel and bus infrastructure interventions or behaviour change opportunities and tie them to a sub area staging plan. This means each sub area would be required to construct transport infrastructure before any development could be completed. Furthermore, the mix of housing types, sizes and affordability will support public transport, commercial activity and community facilities, reducing the number of trips required outside the area,” Mr Avery said.

The key changes made to the final Te Pūtahi Ladies Mile Masterplan and proposed planning provisions include:

· The centralised stormwater system has been removed from the Masterplan. In its place, landowners and developers will need to demonstrate how they will manage stormwater on their sites, similar to how any development within a newly zoned area are required to deal with stormwater. Specific plan provisions have been developed to support good stormwater management that includes no discharge to Lake Hayes and high levels of treatment and attenuation of stormwater to ground within the site.

· As a result of removing the centralised stormwater management system, the final Masterplan includes a centrally located community park of approximately 2 hectares and two local parks of approximately 3000m2 each.

· Whilst the density of 40 units per hectare has been retained in the medium density precincts, the 70 units per hectare in the high-density residential precinct has been reduced to 60 units per hectare. This lower density reduces the number of apartment buildings required to meet the density requirements. Noting that the zone still requires a mixture of housing typologies, sizes and affordability that would support public transport, commercial activity and community facilities for the area.

· The proposed plan provisions include policies and assessment matters encouraging the use of indigenous vegetation, and those species preferred by indigenous birds.

· The proposed plan provisions include a sub area staging plan and specific transport objectives and policies to ensure transport improvements are constructed before any development is complete.

Councillors also agreed to authorise officers to make an application to the Minister for the Environment to notify the Te Pūtahi Ladies Mile Zone Provisions using the Streamlined Planning Process (SPP), as an alternative to the standard Schedule 1 Process under the Resource Management Act 1991.

Mr Avery said SPP approach would considerably shorten the process to amend the District Plan, however the application to the minister would include a procedural request to include a full public notification process and hearing before an independent hearing panel with relevant expertise to consider areas of concern.

“Community input has been central to our work and feedback has considerably shaped the final Masterplan and proposed planning provisions. Requesting full notification will provide a further opportunity for the community to take part in the process,” Mr Avery said.

An announcement on the status of this application and next steps will be made in due course.

© Scoop Media