The Queenstown Lakes District Council has been urged by Cr Cath Gilmour to put some "skin in the game'' to address the district's affordable housing issues.
During an extraordinary council meeting on Tuesday, Cr Gilmour suggested an amended and enlarged recommendation to replace the one in a report from the Queenstown Community Affordable Housing Work Group.
Acting district plan manager Blair Devlin had recommended the council formally receive the report from the group and note ‘‘the five specific recommendations'' made to local government.
They were developing a 30-year master plan for the district, which would: support, facilitate and promote residential/mixed-use intensification; support, facilitate and promote - with the Otago Regional Council - a significantly enhanced, subsidised public transport system; resolve and implement a comprehensive funding model for a tourist tax; and support, facilitate and promote the acceleration of community-based/affordable housing developments.
However, Cr Gilmour said she would be "disappointed'' if the council limited its recommendation to those points.
"The community group didn't just give us five recommendations ... there was a whole road map - nine pages of suggestions.
"I think we have a chance to show some leadership here and we should take it. I think we need to have some skin in the game.''
Her amended recommendation comprised nine points, including acknowledging the council had a "key role'' in achieving more affordable housing in the district, through its own policy and initiatives and by "encouraging, lobbying and collaborating'' with the Government, the Queenstown Lakes District Community Housing Trust, other stakeholders and the community.
Other recommendations were that investigations into affordable housing, visitor accommodation and Gorge Rd's development capacity - in light of alluvial fan risks - be included in the chief executive's work programme for 2016-17 to inform part two of the district plan review; and report progress on those items and other affordable housing opportunities in July and every six months thereafter.
She also recommended the work group's "road map'' be commended to the Minister of Building and Housing.
Cr Lyal Cocks was concerned about a proposed recommendation to actively consider suggestions made by the group in the 2016-17 annual plan.
"We keep referring everything through to the annual plan process ... I think we've got to start narrowing it down; there's only so much we can do.''
However, Mayor Vanessa van Uden said the "danger'' of narrowing it down was not considering "all of it''.
"We do know we need to prioritise - we're not going to do all of it next year, there are 30 years of things in this report.''
However, she said the council needed to be "really careful'' about what its role was.
"We need to enable and provide opportunities - we need to be quite clear it's not our role to build houses at this point.
"We haven't been given the mandate at this time from the community to get into building houses.''
Cr Gilmour's amended recommendation was adopted, with Crs Simon Stamers-Smith and Mel Gazzard voting against it.
