Q’town’s fast-track activist

She’s the local frontperson for growing opposition to fast-track legislation allowing out-of-zone housing developments in Queenstown — and even throughout New Zealand. Last November Hanna Pettit formed a residents’ association, now Queenstown Smart Growth Initiative, that is fighting Kurt Gibbons’ fast-track application for the proposed 1250-home Ridgeburn subdivision on farmland on Arrow Junction’s Morven Ferry Rd. The month before, having read a Mountain Scene article outlining Gibbons’ plans, she emailed nearby residents advising his initially-rejected application had now been ‘referred’ through the fast-track process. “If I had known how much work and how [costly] it would be, I would have probably thought twice about sending that first email,” she says. “But we’re here now.” The oldest of Gayle and Rick Pettit’s three children, Hanna, 41, grew up on the Crown Terrace and attended Arrowtown School, Wakatipu High then, for her last year, Wānaka’s Mt Aspiring College. A ski racer, she was in Wakatipu High’s first ski academy, allowing students to arrange school lessons around training. Rick served two terms on Queenstown’s council, but Hanna says she was not that interested in politics then. She travelled widely with her family, went to Aspen, in the United States, on a school exchange and had a ski season in the United State’s Lake Tahoe. She attended Otago Uni, studying marketing and design and finishing with Bachelors of Commerce and Arts after further study in Austria and Auckland. Started in the advertising industry in Auckland, Hanna continued in that field for 7-plus years, mainly in Amsterdam — buying a house there — and also New York. But she also travelled the the world marketing global brands like Samsung, Google and Johnny Walker. Returning to Auckland pre-Covid and meeting her partner, “I stayed working in advertising, but kind of knew I wasn’t going to be at that level I had been at overseas”. They had two daughters, now 5 and 2, but before having their second they had decided to move back to her hometown. “Partly the reason was the Auckland traffic was really affecting our lives. “We lived about 15 minutes from work but I would travel an hour and a-half every day — on week days I was sitting in traffic longer than I was seeing my daughter. “Subconsciously it’s one of the driving reasons I’ve done what I’ve done.” They moved to Queenstown two years ago. Her partner working in construction while she studied interior design and parented. It has given her time to lobby against Ridgeburn, “and, also, I’m not going to annoy any employer”. Hanna stresses she is one of “an amazing group of people” fighting the development. Living on her parents’ Morven Ferry Rd land “quite far from the development site”, she refutes the idea objectors are NIMBYs (‘not in my backyard’). “That term gets weaponised by people when it suits their agenda, but these are far bigger issues we’re concerned about — and I think having a well-functioning community is not necessarily NIMBYism.” Among concerns are Ridgeburn’s location “6km outside the [council-approved] spatial plan”. “And you put in homes that have no access to public transport, you have to drive 10km to job opportunities, schools, all that kind of stuff.” The scale is an issue, too, Hanna says — “we’re talking 1200 homes, which is over 3000 people, it’s the same size as Arrowtown”. Though Gibbons has proposed to put in three waters infrastructure, she queries if it will be appropriate and will not eventually fall back on ratepayers to fund. She stresses, as their name implies, they are for smart growth — “we’re not anti-growth”. “We’re not against fast-track either — it has brought great infrastructure projects, but the way it’s being used in these housing developments, it’s not working for communities.” Hanna is concerned if the expert panel approves Ridgeburn, it will be a precedent for other out-of-zone applications. “It’s a deck of cards — I think 6 of the 12 fast-track applications in the Basin are out-of-zone housing. “It’s bigger than Ridgeburn, because it’s all of Queenstown, but it’s bigger than Queenstown, it’s like all of the country.” However, what is causing her sleepless nights is the cost of hiring experts for their case — they have already spent about $100,000 and need another $100,000 — and if the money is not raised, “I’m going to be the one liable”. The fact Gibbons has temporarily withdrawn his application before resubmitting is of no comfort. “It’s actually probably even done the opposite” — as they will need further resources to respond to any changes. The problem, Hanna says, is “the legislation is designed to push these types of development through” — developers do not have to consult and can easily throw out figures demonstrating the economic advantage of their subdivisions. “It’s really hard to go, ‘there’s all these other costs’.” And beyond even concerns like traffic and infrastructure, “it’s eroding that natural landscape that is part of the reason people come to Queenstown”. scoop@scene.co.nz