A development which was intended to provide workers’ accommodation in Wānaka has now been approved for full-time visitor accommodation.

Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) has approved Quarters Group Ltd’s resource consent application to use 26 yet-to-be-constructed dwellings on Reece Crescent for year-round short-term accommodation.

The use of the units for visitor accommodation “will support Wānaka as a visitor hub”, application documents submitted on behalf of the developer said.

The 3,000sqm+ site has a long consenting history and the shift to visitor accommodation is a departure from its most recent plans.

They aimed to address Wānaka’s working housing shortage, with some units billed to house up to seven people sharing a kitchen. 

The recently approved visitor accommodation units are smaller, with two- and three-bedroom layouts for groups of four to six.

In its last resource consent application - to change the design of the dwellings - application documents said the development was “still intended for the units to provide accommodation for workers”. 

Under the newly approved decision, the dwellings could be individually managed by a property management company.

The buildings surrounding the site are “industrial and service in nature”, and include a mechanic, engineering shop, and restaurants a little further away.

“The proximity of a residential visitor accommodation adjacent to their operations will not affect the amenity experienced by the owners or occupants of these sites,” the application said.

QLDC approved the application on a non-notified basis.

PHOTO: Wānaka App