The critique was yesterday presented to the Queenstown Lakes District Council strategy committee as part of the district plan low density residential zone monitoring report.
Environmental planning consultant Boffa Miskell was appointed to assess the urban design qualities of seven subdivisions within the district, including Lake Hayes Estate, in June last year.
Other subdivisions in Queenstown included Fernhill, Goldfields, Arthurs Point and Atley Downs, in addition to Wanaka's Mt Iron and Meadowston subdivisions.
The project was carried out according to urban design criteria including context, connectivity, scale, quality, character, distinctiveness and creativity.
The overall assessment of Lake Hayes Estate was between "acceptable" and "less successful", and its out-of-town location without appropriate local services was "a major urban design concern".
The critique said Lake Hayes would be "more successful" had it been treated as a "standalone village" with shops and sufficient amenities to create a village centre and destination for local residents.
Another key point was the width of the subdivision's roads was not on a scale with the built environment and might encourage speeding, and the extent of fences bounding greenways reduced "visibility and a sense of safety".
Cr Simon Stamers-Smith said the subdivision was "clearly less successful" than it could be and council should learn from it when taking part in subdivision planning for the "neighbours".
"We have to accept that Lake Hayes Estate is not a successful plan in all areas except for one [connectivity]."
Cr Cath Gilmour countered with the point that a rather important criterion had not been used in the critique - "People like living there!"
All the other Queenstown subdivisions fared better in the critique, each receiving a rating between "acceptable" and "successful".
The results for the Wanaka sites will be published when the Wanaka low density zone monitoring report is provided to the strategy committee.
