Two Special Housing Areas (SHA) in the Upper Clutha have been approved.

Decisions approving both the Hāwea SHA and the Bright Sky SHA in Wanaka were published in the New Zealand Gazette Te Kāhiti o Aotearoa, Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) advised on Tuesday July 2.

An SHA is an area of land suitable for new housing, where development can be fast-tracked under more permissive consenting powers. In Queenstown Lakes, one of the conditions of an SHA is developers must gift ten percent of its land to a housing trust to provide affordable housing.

The Hawea Community Association (HCA) and lobby group Keep Hawea Beautiful have both strongly opposed the Hawea development, citing community opposition and a lack of infrastructure, among other things. HCA chair April MacKenzie called the decision “disappointing” and said the HCA would “consider what actions can be taken from here”. 

“While the council listened carefully to the concerns expressed by some in the community about the [Hawea] SHA,” mayor Jim Boult said, “we also recognised that we need to cater for growth in the district and that Hāwea is increasingly being seen as an affordable satellite for those working in Wānaka.”

The developer behind the Hawea SHA, Universal Developments, agreed to increase its land contribution from the ten per cent minimum to 12.5 per cent (an increase of ten to a total of 50 homes) for the Hāwea SHA. 

“We’re looking forward to getting into the resource consent process,” Universal Developments’ Lane Hocking told the Wanaka App. 

The Bright Sky development in Wanaka will be located between the Aspiring Retirement Village and Heritage Park. PHOTO: QLDC

The council said Bright Sky Ltd might increase their land contribution above the minimum by up to two per cent (an added five homes) “depending on the outcome of the consenting process”.

“Bright Sky is pleased to get the SHA and looks forward to working with the QLDC through the consenting process to deliver a quality development,” Bright Sky’s Grant Bisset said.

“These two developments will make a significant contribution to housing supply in the Upper Clutha and provide a much-needed 681 homes for the growing local population,” Jim said. “Not only does the Hāwea SHA proposal commit the developer to provide housing at price points well below the local average, the SHA mechanism means council has considerably more control over the development’s outcomes.”

The next step for the developers of both SHAs will be to apply to QLDC for resource consents under the Housing Accords and Special Housing Areas Act 2013 (HASHAA), which must be submitted by September 2019.

PHOTO: Universal Developments