Mirroring the last government’s similar-style legislation, born out of Covid, the idea was residential developers, in particular, could get approval for subdivisions without being bogged down in lengthy, costly planning processes for years.
So, kind of a one-stop shop where panels of experts, without government interference, could make decisions on applications ‘referred’ by the Minister for Infrastructure.
Again, laudably, the idea was fast-track would address the country’s chronic housing shortage and, even conceivably, lead to lower-cost houses.
In Queenstown, however, fast-track’s almost become a dirty word.
That’s not just because fast-track applications seem to be popping out of the woodwork just about every other week, but also because some are being proposed for areas no one ever envisaged for housing.
Areas that have never been included in council’s spatial planning, for example.
But the nub of the problem is no one’s empowered to monitor the cumulative effects of all these applications — no one’s able to say ‘enough’s enough’ or at least push pause for a bit.
On their own, many of the applications promise very attractive neighbourhoods with native plantings, sensible design guidelines, sustainable ideas and even carparks.
Some even put forward self-contained three waters infrastructure, such as on-site wastewater disposal.
But none of the proposed developments address fast-track’s Achilles’ heel, in this area, in particular — the extra vehicular traffic that’ll be added to an already congested network.
Artfully, some developers such as at Ladies Mile and Kingston say they’ll have so many facilities on site, like supermarkets and schools, there’ll be less of a need for people to drive elsewhere.
Indeed, they’re saying residents in these new ’burbs will be able to bike to go shopping and won’t even need a vehicle.
But, as Kingston’s Jeff Rogers said in last week’s Mountain Scene, in response to Kingston Village Ltd (KVL) proposing a supermarket and other facilities to eventually cater for a population of 10,000: "People are still going to go to the likes of Queenstown because that’s where the centre of everything is, you’re not going to move the centre of everything to Kingston."
Imagine, then, how congested and potentially dangerous the Kingston highway will be once you add vehicles from an expanded Kingston and fast-tracked Homestead Bay onto a road already struggling to contain Jack’s Point and Hanley’s Farm traffic — not to mention more cars from the nascent Woolbrae and Park Ridge subdivisions.
It beggars belief how the Kawarau Falls Bridge will ever cope.
But when you’re talking about cumulative effects, fast-track developments will also be putting more strain on power supply, not to mention, potentially, the availability of safe ground water.
The other beef many locals have with fast-track consenting is the apparent lack of weight given by the process to public opinion.
Even immediate neighbours of proposed developments feel disenfranchised.
Local MP Joseph Mooney, while defending his government’s fast-track legislation, is quite right to be encouraging applicants to front up to the public, even if there’s no legal requirement.
Big ups, therefore, to would-be Fernhill developer Guy Hingston for walking into a veritable lions’ den at a recent community association meeting where he fielded questions about his controversial fast-track application.
Many critics still gave him credit for making the effort.
In similar vein, you’ve also got to give plaudits to KVL for promising to consult with the Kingston community to the nth degree — even offering one-on-one chats with local households.
I’m sure residents in the Morven Ferry Rd area would appreciate it if the developer behind the contentious Ridgeburn fast-track subdivision fronted up to them, too.
On a positive note, while we’re faced with more fast-track applications for housing developments than anywhere in the country, this region stands to benefit from at least one non-residential application.
That’s NZSki’s application to extend The Remarkables skifield into the Doolans Basin — specifically designed to preserve Queenstown’s snowsports economy in the face of climate change.
