Innovative approach key in Queenstown

The planned Remarkables Residences, aimed at families and workers. Graphic supplied.
The planned Remarkables Residences, aimed at families and workers. Graphic supplied.
Traffic backs up on Queenstown’s Stanley St. Photos by David Williams.
Traffic backs up on Queenstown’s Stanley St. Photos by David Williams.
Houses being built at Queenstown’s Shotover Country subdivision.
Houses being built at Queenstown’s Shotover Country subdivision.

Queenstown needs to learn from  both Auckland’s good and bad experiences on growth, housing, infrastructure and urban planning, writes architect David Gibbs.  He presents his views in an open letter to Queentown’s new mayor, Jim Boult.

Dear Mr Boult,

Congratulations. With the travails of the campaign trail behind you, followed by a brief pause over a glass of Moet to savour your triumph, the hard work is now ahead of you.

In terms of the growing pains facing Queenstown, I was pleased to hear you aim to help ''facilitate a better outcome'' for its residents. Better still, you've promised to address housing, transport and district planning issues.

Despite retiring councillor Cath Gilmour saying that, while Queenstown has ''many problems of the Auckland ilk, an Auckland template won't resolve them'', I would argue that there are many similarities. Queenstown, like Auckland, faces challenges with housing supply and affordability, struggling infrastructure, and urban planning.

To grow or not to grow? It's a question the town has been grappling with recently. The answer is ''Yes, grow''. You reportedly said it is no good trying to stop growth, but it should be better controlled.

Should that growth be limited in time? Absolutely. But for now, Queenstown has the capacity, particularly with the aid of special housing areas, public-private partnerships and sympathetic infrastructure initiatives.

Queenstown deserves a well-considered masterplanned approach to density to ensure excellent outcomes. Crucially, emphasis must be placed on high-quality, contained growth.

Protectionism around Queenstown's stunning natural environment is justified. Fortunately, the town's undulating landscape provides ample opportunities for sensitive development - ones that aren't visible from the road and aren't at odds with the surroundings - Lake Hayes Estate and Shotover Country are good examples.

I encourage Queenstown to continue to explore innovative and alternative solutions to housing, infrastructure and urban planning.

For example, embrace more dense forms of housing - Queenstown already has some examples of duplex and terraced housing, mixed-use options and live-work conversions of existing buildings.

But there simply needs to be more. A broader pallet of medium-density, multi-unit solutions will help to address affordability and use Queenstown's precious land stock more efficiently.

The focus should be on good housing design that considers outlook, access to sunlight, usable open space, amenity and, importantly, affordability. Affordability goes hand in hand with house and land size.

There are now some very smart and proven designs for small, efficient and very liveable homes on compact parcels of land.

Auckland's Hobsonville Point development is an example of a design-led approach to modern housing. The development has a mix of housing types and prices, including well-designed, smaller, more affordable two-bedroom terraced homes.

The typical section size for these houses is just 190sq m. It is also proof that mixed-housing developments can be done well and tick all the right boxes: high-quality, affordable, amenity, community.

Importantly, a high-quality result requires a comprehensive suite of design guidelines that informs, for example, the materials, built forms and execution of public spaces.

Lack of infrastructure is a real barrier to development in Queenstown. Solutions will require some outside-the-box thinking.

The lake, for example, is currently used for transport.

There is an existing ferry service but the council could consider subsidising it and increasing the frequency - a 10-minute ferry journey can replace a 30-minute drive from Kelvin Heights to central Queenstown.

Water infrastructure is another cause for concern - the load on reticulated water services can be reduced by installing on-site services.

Additionally, central Queenstown should aspire to be a walkable, self-contained community with local, accessible amenities.

It means increasing the residential options available in the centre, particularly mixed-use. It would be great to see more instances of apartments sited above retail spaces - this is an effective and attractive approach to medium-density design.

Clearly, Queenstown faces considerable challenges as it wrestles with housing supply and affordability issues.

I urge Queenstown to review Auckland's experiences - good and bad - to understand what learnings in relation to housing, infrastructure and urban planning could be applied to its own situation.

-Former Dunedinite David Gibbs, who lives in Auckland, is director of architecture and planning practice Construkt.

He spent many of his formative years in central Otago and is gradually looking to spend more time in the region. He will shortly open a branch of his architecture practice in Queenstown.

Mr Gibbs has been a vocal proponent of creating a compact Auckland city to address the housing crisis.

He is a former national committee member of the Urban Design Forum and former chairman of the New Zealand Institute of Architect's urban issue group.

He led the NZ Institute of Architects' and Urban Design Forum's participation in the Auckland Unitary Plan.

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