Commissioners have now been appointed for a hearing on the controversial Urban Intensification Variation (UIV).

The panel will include Jane Taylor (chair), Ian Munro, and councillor Lyal Cocks, with the hearing expected to take place in 2025, Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) said.

The UIV proposes growth ‘out and up’ - increased building height and density - in locations around the district, including parts of Wānaka and Hāwea. 

The divisive proposal attracted more than 1,200 submissions during the initial feedback process.

Read more: Strong opposition to urban intensification variation

Under the proposal, the regulations for Lower Density Suburban Residential (LDSR) zones would change to allow for building height up to 8m in most cases, and in Medium Density Residential (MDR) zones heights of 11m (+ 1m for pitched roofs).

It would also allow for heights in the Wānaka CBD of 16.5m (up from 12m).

The UIV is an outcome of the previous government’s 2020 national policy statement on urban development (NPS-UD), which directs councils around the country to remove some planning rules and plan for growth.

The new government’s ‘Going for Growth’ housing plan proposal isn’t expected to have an impact on the UIV process, a spokesperson from the QLDC planning team said.

“The intensification requirements for Tier 2 councils [which include Queenstown Lakes] remain the same, so there are no implications for the UIV,” the spokesperson said.

The proposals under ‘Going for Growth’, which the National Party says will fix New Zealand’s housing crisis, include freeing up land for development, removing planning barriers, improving infrastructure funding and financing, and providing incentives for supporting growth.

The QLDC spokesperson said consultation on the details of the proposals won’t happen until next year, but they have the potential to affect “future workstreams like District Plan work and/or QLDC’s Future Development Strategy/Spatial Plan work”.

A date for the UIV hearing will be set in due course.

Find detailed information on the proposed UIV and how it would work: Urban intensification: Growth ‘up and out’ proposed

PHOTO: Supplied