A “healthcare district” planned for Wānaka’s Three Parks may be submitted through the government’s new Fast-track Approvals scheme.

Roa chief executive Mike Saegers told the Wānaka App yesterday (Thursday, May 2) that the Wānaka based property investment company “shares the community’s concerns about the lack of healthcare facilities available locally”.

“We are well advanced in progressing options to address this, including investigating how the government’s proposed Fast-track Approvals regime may assist.” 

He said the details of the planned “healthcare district” remained commercially sensitive.

A Roa spokesperson told the Wānaka App last month the company “has significant plans for a health district at Three Parks, across the road from where Aspiring House will be situated”.

Roa CEO Mike Saegers

The 19.5 metre tall Aspiring House was approved by Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) in April and will be sited on the corner of Sir Tim Wallis Drive and Deering Street in Three Parks. 

Go deeper:

• QLDC approves 19 metre high ‘Aspiring House’
• ‘Carbon zero’ development billed for Three Parks

Wānaka-Upper Clutha Community Board chair Simon Telfer told the Wānaka App he had been fortunate to see the plan for the precinct.

“The emphasis on high performance design and prioritisation for people walking and relaxing is amazing,” he said.

“It looks so progressive and inviting. If this becomes the benchmark standard of development in Three Parks I do seriously worry about the long term attractiveness of the town centre as a retail and services destination.”

The government says a broad range of activities (including infrastructure, renewable energy, housing and mining) will have access to the Fast-track Approvals process.

Organisations can apply to have their project fast-tracked by joint ministers (the ministers for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development) who will make the decision.

Waitaki MP Miles Anderson told the Wānaka App this week that “regardless of what people think, the fast tracking doesn’t mean they will avoid any [ecological assessment], it just means those consents are put into one pile and are all looked at at once rather than going through a years-long process”. 

IMAGES: Supplied