A society has been established due to growing concern about the proposed Fast-Track development at the foothills of Coronet Peak in between Arrowtown and Arthurs Point. The proposed development is Coronet Village Ltd directed by Ben Farrell in partnership with Bernard Cleary, Rod Drury and other parties.

The Malaghans Valley Protection Society has been set up to inform the local community and wider Whakatipu basin of the full proposal and to encourage others to join in to voice their concerns.

Malaghans Valley Protection Society chairman James Hall says so far only the gondola has been mentioned in media, but the proposal also includes a 780-home subdivision, commercial centre, private schools, and 600-800 carparks on land which is zoned rural and includes Outstanding Natural Landscape (ONL).

Locals often refer to this area as the ‘rural pause’ or ‘breathing space’ between Arthurs Point and Arrowtown. The land is also in the upper catchment for the beleaguered Lake Hayes and the sewerage infrastructure needed to support this level of development is non-existent, meaning that all waste would be discharged to ground. Other infrastructure including power, drinking water, and roading are also not in place, meaning big changes in the area.

There has been a concerted effort from local community and environmental groups over the years to restore the health of Lake Hayes. A key part of this work is ensuring sediment runoff doesn’t flow into Lake Hayes from the upper catchment area and Mill Creek. There are sediment traps in the upper catchment - Puku Nui which borders the proposed development and Puku Iti which is in the vicinity.

“These sediment traps prevent massive volumes of additional sediment entering tributaries and ultimately into Lake Hayes. The Lake Hayes ecosystem is fragile and already under strain from other developments in the catchment area,” says Julia Coleman, secretary of the Malaghans Valley Protection Society.

“This scale of development is not small; it is essentially a new town being proposed. This sort of proposal needs a full consultation with the whole community. We only happened to find out about this proposed development the evening before the media coverage about the gondola,” adds Mr Hall.

“To have something like this slip under the radar and get approved for Fast-Track development would be damaging to the environment and character of the area and the long-term vision for growth for our district,” he says.

As part of the Government’s current Fast-Track process, directly affected parties and Councils will have just 10 days to submit on a proposal. The aim of the Fast-Track process is to speed up decision-making, but as part of this, consultation is essentially nil. The list of proposed Fast-Track projects is expected to be announced in late September and this could include the Coronet Village proposal.

“There are no meaningful opportunities to be involved in the decision-making. We are trying to voice our concerns now and get ahead of the publicly excluded process,” Mr Hall adds.

More information about the proposed Coronet Village development and the Malaghans Valley Protection Society can be found at: www.mvps.nz.

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