Nationally, changes to the accommodation supplement (AS) boundaries will potentially impact tens of thousands of households who live in areas still deemed ‘rural’, despite urban sprawl.
Following a sustained Queenstown campaign, including a novel publicity stunt, the government is changing earlier boundaries which did not recognise those suburbs that have sprouted up on former farmland.
Households where housing costs exceed 25% to 30% of income are eligible for an accommodation supplement.
However, Queenstown suburbs such as Shotover Country and Lake Hayes Estate have still been assessed as "rural", or "area 4".
For those residents, their AS was set at $120 per week, at most, but they have been re-assessed as "area 1", or "urban", meaning households with one child or more can now receive up to $305 a week.
On average, eligible residents in redesignated areas will be better off by an average $93 a week, the government states.
The other local suburbs being promoted from "area 4" to "area 1" are parts of Frankton, Jack’s Point, Quail Rise and Sunshine Bay/Fernhill.
Hanley’s Farm — still assessed as "rural" — is not included. However, the government is planning to finalise its accommodation supplement boundaries next year.
Local interests have been campaigning for the government to update those boundaries since about 2017.
National MP Joseph Mooney, former local Salvation Army captain Andrew Wilson, former mayor Jim Boult and councillor Niki Gladding had spearheaded a "#peepsnotsheeps" campaign.
Three years ago, just before the last council election, Mr Mooney, Capt Wilson and Mr Boult, dressed as, respectively, a shepherd, a cow and a sheep, skydived from a plane into the no-longer-rural Hanley’s Farm — landing in its school’s playground — to make their point.
With the council’s support, Capt Wilson also presented a petition, signed by 586 people, to Parliament.
"I’m definitely stoked this government is doing something about it, when the last government wasn’t going to do anything about it," Mr Mooney said.
"I’ve pushed this through all sorts of different mechanisms, both in opposition and in government and jumped out of a plane to try to bring attention to this, so I’m very pleased to get this moving."
"I’m very pleased the pleas have finally been answered," Mr Boult said.
"Look, it’s 10 years too late because we started pushing for this in 2017, but, look, the wait has been worthwhile."
Capt Wilson said it was a "huge relief".
"I think it shows when you’re backing a good cause and one that makes all the sense in the world, eventually the powers that be will turn the cogs that need to be turned," he said.
"We’ve still got 18 months to wait, so that’s quite a long time for a birthday present, but it’s a move in the right direction."
Capt Wilson, who is now based in Wellington, recalled "people coming to us almost flabbergasted when they had to move rentals from, say, Queenstown CBD out to, say, Lake Hayes Estate".
"And they found they no longer were eligible for the accommodation supplement, and so they had to pay all this extra money.
"Now, at least, what this does is save those people from that sort of shock and means a lot more of our community who are in that low-income bracket can be shielded from accommodation costs.
"In turn, hopefully, they have more incentive to stay in Queenstown and ... reduce some of that transience we so often see."
