There is “no doubt” development towards Hāwea’s new urban boundary will take place before new infrastructure is established.

That’s the view of Queenstown Lakes District deputy mayor Quentin Smith, who attended the Hāwea Community Association (HCA) presentation on Sunday (June 11) on the shape of the newly agreed urban boundary to the township.

The meeting came a week and a half after the Environment Court confirmed the Lake Hāwea urban boundary would be extended to Domain Road - more than doubling the size of the existing urban area.

Read more: More urban growth: Hāwea urban boundary to be extended

HCA chair Cherilyn Walthew outlined the potential makeup of the new residential zone to about 80 community members and the QLDC’s four Wānaka councillors, sharing the broad outcomes of a long mediation process which had been confidential until weeks ago.

Cherilyn explained the HCA ended up in mediation with the Queenstown Lakes District Council, Otago Regional Council (ORC), and two developers (Lane Hocking of Universal Developments and Chris Streat of Domain Acres) after it opposed further development south of the township’s existing Cemetery Road boundary.

Universal Development’s ‘Special Housing Area’, Longview, south of Cemetery Road, and Streat’s Domain Acres at the west end of Cemetery Road had already set a precedent for breaching the boundary.

The basis of the HCA’s argument was a lack of infrastructure in place to service new homes, and the creation of “an isolated part of the community”, Cherilyn told the Wānaka App.

However, on the day the HCA entered mediation with the other groups, central government announced $24M to fix Lake Hāwea’s overstretched wastewater system, “providing a path to development”, Cherilyn said.

“Once we started mediation we had no ability to come back to the public,” she told the meeting.

“[It was] a pretty scary position to be in.”

Community connectivity

With infrastructure funding secured for wastewater, the HCA focused on negotiating for “connectivity” for a more spread out township.

Cherilyn said the HCA was aware of “a range of camps” within the community, from those who opposed development and wanted a quiet, unspoilt environment, to those who just wanted to be able to get on with building houses for their families.

Domain Road is likely to become a thoroughfare as the township grows. PHOTO: Wanaka App

During mediation, the HCA was able to secure an extended commercial area at Longview and had another area set aside for seven years for a potential future school.

“We kind of went a little bit feral and made a play for the sort of thing people were asking for,” Cherilyn said. 

Space for a 2,500sqm market square was gifted by Universal Developments; agreement was reached on new tracks and walkways; and a two-hectare green space requested by QLDC was set aside for playing fields. 

There was also potential for “botanical gardens, a dog park, and skate parks,” Cherilyn said.

She stressed there was “lots more consultation” to happen on what the newly expanded urban area would look like.

“This is a zoning decision, not a resource consent decision.”

Hāwea’s connection to Project Pure was “instrumental in a lot of this happening”, she added, and there was no definite time frame for that.

Development cannot take place without resource consents, and the ORC also added a condition that people can’t build without a connection to town services (water supply and sewerage).

While the outcome of the mediation would please many (not least Lane Hocking, whose investment in most of the land from Cemetery Road almost to the south bend of Domain Road will rise significantly in value under the new zoning), there was also some dissatisfaction expressed at the meeting.

“I’m not convinced that developers have our interests at heart at all,” one member of the community said, to much laughter.

Infrastructure challenges

The outcome also poses significant infrastructure challenges, councillors Lyal Cocks and Quentin Smith said.

“We’re nowhere near being able to provide the infrastructure to the final number of houses,” Quentin said, noting that the township’s capacity had leapt to 5,000 homes.

There is likely to be “a bit of pain” as infrastructure catches up to growth. Camphill Road’s one-way bridge over the Hāwea River. PHOTO: Supplied

The government’s $24M grant for Project Pure did not cover any new development, he added.

“There’s some harsh realities there on the impact it will have on our programme in terms of accounting for all the infrastructure demands that come from that growth.

“We’re already in a tough financial position and don’t have a lot of room to make those big investments.

“We’re just going to have to do it bit by bit… the infrastructure acceleration fund will help with the wastewater. We’ve got a long way to go with ORC and Waka Kotahi around downstream impacts and public transport.”

Quentin said Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency has no plans to replace the Albert Town Bridge, the link between Hāwea and Wānaka.

“It’s fairly safe to say the Albert Town bridge will fail before it gets fixed, so in terms of capacity there will be a bit of pain before we get the infrastructure in place.”

Quentin said as growth occurs the council will receive more developer contributions which will help, but he had “no doubt” that development would outpace the investment in infrastructure.

“We’ll probably have to expect there will be continuing restrictions on water at peak times of the year and stuff like that,” he said.

Next steps

Cherilyn said the HCA would go back to the community to consult on options for the new zone, planning to set up subcommittees on various aspects such as the market square and recreation areas.

“If we want to see things in our town we need to get involved,” she said.

People can also send their ideas to: [email protected]