Changing planning rules for Ladies Mile land could be the best way to solve the housing conundrum in the area, a new report says.
A staffer's report for tomorrow's Queenstown Lakes District Council meeting in Wanaka recommends it take a "proactive'' approach that considers housing, transport, infrastructure, recreation and green space together.
Planning policy manager Ian Bayliss said the council could notify a variation to the district plan containing a "structure plan'' covering zoning and rules for the area, such as the staging of development.
"This would then be a framework guiding future development that reflects council's aspirations and those of the community that support urbanisation for this land.''
Development of the largely rural land along the main arterial route into Queenstown has been dogging the council for the past three years.
The only development approved to date is the Queenstown Country Club, which is under construction.
A special housing area proposal from Maryhill Ltd for a 207-lot development was turned down by the council in 2016.
Three more special housing area proposals for the area were rejected at last month's council meeting.
The report considers three other options for the Ladies Mile: allowing low-density housing in line with proposed district plan zoning; allowing developers to undertake private plan changes to advance their proposals; or promoting the area as a candidate for development under the Government's mooted but yet-to-be-established Urban Development Authority.
Mr Bayliss said council officers believed the area would "begin to be substantially developed in the . . . next three to 10 years'' with low-density housing under proposed district plan zoning.
"Experience has shown that private plan changes can be expected for the area, and the ability to decline private plan changes or even influence them significantly under the [Resource Management Act] can be limited.''
He cautioned the nature of the plan change process meant it could take from two to four years before construction of any houses began.
