Discussion will resume in Wānaka later this month on the council’s controversial proposed Urban Intensification Variation (UIV).

A hearing on the UIV will take place at Edgewater Resort on August 25-27, following sessions in Queenstown over the past few weeks.

If approved the UIV would allow for substantially increased building height and density in parts of Wānaka, including the CBD.

The UIV - first proposed two years ago - proposes increasing allowable building height to eight metres in the Lower Density Residential Zone (LDRZ) and 11 metres (+ 1m for pitched roofs) in the Medium Density Residential Zone (MDRZ), as well as 16.5 metres in the CBD.

It would also include rezoning some areas in the Upper Clutha from LDRZ to MDRZ.

This 16.5 metre scaffolding was erected on Brownston Street to demonstrate the potential impact of some of the proposals. PHOTO: Wānaka App

Wānaka resident Mark Gray is one of the members of Wānaka Responsible Growth Advocates group responsible for erecting a 16.5 metre scaffolding on Brownston Street in 2023 to demonstrate the height of some of the proposals.

Read more: Scaffolding sparks debate

Mark attended the Arrowtown UIV hearing session recently, arguing that the UIV would put Wānaka’s “character” at risk. 

“This character underwrites the value of the town to residents and visitors alike and is integral to the national and international reputation of Wānaka as an alpine resort destination,” he told the Wānaka App.

“I implored the hearing panel to slow up the process to examine all options to satisfy the remit of [central government’s national policy statement on urban development] but do not risk altering/eroding the highly valued character of the town.”

Mark is one of many submitters on the UIV supporting intensification at Three Parks rather than elsewhere.

The bulk of submissions to Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) oppose the proposal. 

Mark said Three Parks “has all the ducks in a row - essentially green fields, prospective rather than retrospective infill, blank slate infrastructure, parking, recreational amenity, professional services, large and small box retail, supermarket zoning for HDR and MDR, and so on”.

He argues that while the existing CBD and Wānaka’s “central residential” area could take on some intensification (“more out than up”), they “account for the character of the town - low rise, village-like alpine resort town”.

He said “more modest intensification in these zones would preserve character”, while shifting the bulk of intensification to Three Parks. 

“Three Parks is by default becoming the central focus of the town in any case and if planned, designed and managed well, could be a great example of what the [NPS-UD] is looking to achieve."

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

Read a more detailed explainer of the proposal here.

It aims to respond to overly restrictive planning rules around the country that have driven up prices and denied people housing. QLDC chief executive Mike Theelen has said it is intended “to stop local communities and local councils forever finding reasons not to intensify”.

The Wānaka sessions of the hearing will take place from August 25-27 (Monday to Wednesday) at Edgewater Resort.

Read more: ‘Confronting’ changes proposed for Wānaka CBD