The expansion of Wānaka southwest towards the Cardrona Valley, signalled in the new Queenstown Lakes spatial plan, has already begun on a small scale but the large Alpine Meadows development is set to add another 375 sections.

Southwest of the Wānaka Lakes Health Centre stands the Heritage Park development and the Alpine Estates residential subdivision is well underway, with many new houses under construction or just completed.

Beside the two developments sits Alpine Meadows, 42 hectares of flat rural land which has been rezoned for low density residential development. Contouring of the land is taking place now and a pre sales launch of its first stage (about 45 sections) is expected before Christmas.

Alpine Meadows is a joint venture between Orchard Road Holdings and Willowridge Developments and this week the Wānaka App chatted with Willowridge’s residential sales and marketing manager Jarrod Frazer about this new subdivision.

Alpine Meadows stretches from behind the Ballantyne Road industrial area through to Orchard Road; stage one will initially be accessed off Deans Drive and, in the future, via another entrance off Orchard Road.

The new spatial plan has identified that future urban growth should occur in the southwestern area of Wānaka where the Alpine Meadows subdivision is located. IMAGE: Willowridge Developments

Jarrod said the first stage of sections (promoted earlier this year), which range from 600m2 to 1100m2, attracted significant local interest. 

“A lot of those inquiring locally...are current property owners either trading up or down, or are currently renting and wanting to own their own property...,” he said. 

Alpine Meadows, which fits within Wānaka’s southwestern boundary as described by the spatial plan, will be released in stages over the next few years. Jarrod said each stage generally takes 18-24 months to complete but this is dependent on how many sections are planned per stage.

Adopted on July 29 this year, the spatial plan said Wānaka’s growth should be contained and consolidated within the boundaries of the two rivers, the Clutha and the Cardrona. The plan sets out a vision and framework for how and where the district will grow through to 2050 and the supporting infrastructure needed, such as access to schools, healthcare and community facilities.

Jarrod, who has lived in Wānaka for 30 years and been involved in the real estate industry for the past 12 years, said the current market was “very buoyant” and he did not envisage that changing soon.

“The Upper Clutha is a destination that people have been drawn to for decades for its outstanding beauty, and more relaxed lifestyle, [and as a result] our population continues to grow.”

He believed the steady production of sections available for building in Wānaka, as well as Hāwea and Luggate, would serve the district well.

While smaller developments, such as the 116 section, medium density Clearview Estate, are sold-out, staged developments of larger residential subdivisions, including Northlake and Longview, still have enormous capacity.

And although the development of Three Parks was currently focused on the retail and commercial sectors, around 1,000 future residential sections were earmarked in Three Parks, Jarrod said.

An urban growth boundary amendment proposal currently with the council could potentially allow for a 600 house subdivision on the west side of Riverbank Road between Ballantyne and Orchard roads.