Submission on Queenstown Lakes District Council Urban Intensification Variation

We have submitted to the Queenstown Lakes District Council on its Urban Intensification Variation.

While we do not usually submit on individual District Plan proposals, we consider the Urban Intensification Variation to the Queenstown Lakes District Council Proposed District Plan to be nationally significant. This is because:

• it directly relates to Rautaki Hanganga o Aotearoa, the New Zealand Infrastructure Strategy, which has specific recommendations about providing for growth through effective spatial planning and increasing housing development, including through upzoning to enable increased housing density;
• it sets a precedent about the planning for urban intensification in the New Zealand city with the least affordable homes and fastest growth rate (i.e., the highest growth rate of any Tier 1 or Tier 2 city between 1996 and 2020, averaging 5.3%);
• the implementation of sub-optimal minimum lot sizes and maximum height limits in areas to be upzoned may negate ‘high-density’ development and contribute to urban sprawl, with the associated problems of traffic congestion (and consequent emissions increases)and worsening housing affordability;
• Queenstown is one of the formal Urban Growth Partnerships established between central and local government, so there is a strong central government interest in ensuring robust District Plan processes that will deliver on regional and national priorities, including reducing carbon emissions and making housing more affordable.