As a local council moves to corral burgeoning growth within its town boundary, a private developer is again looking to take it into the hinterland
An application for a 543-lot subdivision 10km north of Cromwell will be publicly notified within the next few weeks by the Central Otago District Council.
The developer is roading and infrastructure company Fulton Hogan, which is looking to develop a quarry site, one of 30 the company owns in the South Island.
With shops, travellers’ accommodation, business and industrial zones and a pencilled-in school site, the proposal would form a satellite town if it did not already have urban neighbours on its southern boundary.
The 118ha site adjoins Pisa Moorings, a popular residential area that would more than double in size if the quarry plan is approved.
Residents say they would be glad to bid farewell to the noise and dust of the quarry despite Fulton Hogan’s considerable efforts to mitigate these.
Council planners, however, will be faced with consenting - or not - a large housing development in a rural area after being told by ratepayers to concentrate growth in town.
Surrounding land along this stretch of highway, linking Cromwell and Wanaka, is productive and home to dozens of vineyards, cherry orchards and sheep and beef farms.
Everyone wants a piece of Cromwell
Cromwell continues to push up the growth stats across Central Otago’s four wards with seemingly endless demand for sections and houses.
In 2021-22 the district issued 1170 building consents worth $244.5 million, a 22 percent increase in the number of consents and 34 percent increase in value from the previous year.
During the same period, 592 resource consents were processed - also a 22 percent increase on the previous year, according the council’s annual report.
Four years ago the council began a major town-planning exercise, partly as a way to pull back control of growth from private developers.
Developing the Cromwell Eye to the Future Masterplan and Spatial Framework involved lengthy public consultation, the outcome of which gave a clear message.
Focusing development within Cromwell and revitalising the town centre is now under way through funding allocations and a council-led plan change that will alter the current district plan.
Intensifying development within a walkable distance of the town centre is a key aim.
Over $13 million has been budgeted for modernising the dated Clyde Dam-era shopping mall plus $5.5 million for a new resource centre. A further $12.3 million has been tagged for a new council service centre, $11 million for a library and $31.5 million for a lakeside cultural centre and museum.
When the desired pattern of growth was still being worked through, an application by River Terrace Developments to subdivide rural land for large-scale housing was declined.
Reverse-sensitivity concerns over noise from neighbouring motorsport and horticultural operations were a factor, but consideration of the upcoming spatial plan was also given weight by the commissioners.
Town in the country
Pisa Moorings is alone among rural neighbours.
Its only commercial buildings are a hotel, restaurant and accommodation set around marinas at the southern end.
In 2019 open space within its boundaries was consented for further housing and empty sections, once plentiful, are disappearing fast.
Surveyor Wally Sanford has lived there for seven years and watched the area fill in.
He reckons there are only about eight sections to come, which would take the number of lots to just under 500.
Fulton Hogan’s proposal, with its canals, wetland walkways and cafes, would only benefit Pisa Moorings and Cromwell itself, Sanford believes.
“There’s not enough interest around the lake [Dunstan] edge.
“It would be nice to have cafes next to the lake. You imagine kayaking out from Cromwell to a nice marina for lunch then kayaking back.”
He sees the unsuccessful River Terrace Development proposal as fundamentally different -almost double the houses and a standalone site.
Fulton Hogan hopes to link its site by road with Pisa Moorings and Sanford says in people’s minds it would be an extension of housing that’s already there.
“If it was disjointed from Pisa Moorings it would be different, but it’s right next door.
“I think the marina would be a great thing for Cromwell and when you’ve got willing developers you should work with them.”
Through Nick Ross, director of Nelson company Endless River, Fulton Hogan says it won’t be commenting as the plan-change process runs its course.
On its project website, Fulton Hogan says the quarry could have another 30 to 40 years of life if the proposal is declined. If successful some quarrying would continue but reduce over time.
In the meantime extraction will carry on for seven to 10 years and the first stages of the housing development could be four to six years away.
The company says its other quarry sites near Kingston in Northern Southland and at Luggate near Wanaka have “significant reserves” of aggregates to keep the market supplied once Parkburn closes.
At a community consultation event at Pisa Moorings, the company received requests from residents to include a pub and hall in the plans.
Concerns were raised about the need for new water infrastructure and possible effects from a proposed airport at Tarras but the mood overall seemed positive.
Council principal policy planner Ann Rodgers says plan change 19 will definitely happen before Fulton Hogan’s private plan change.
The council’s setting of new zonings is about six months ahead of the Parkburn application, meaning it will be subject to them once heard.
Fulton Hogan has said, however, that it would “pick up” those new low- and medium-housing zonings as part of its plan.
Mayor Tim Cadogan declined to comment on the Parkburn application due to council being the consenting authority for the proposal.
But he says in regard to managing growth that he is looking forward to gaining data from the upcoming census.
With a four-year gap since the last one and rapid expansion in between, the new population figures will be essential in providing evidence of the region’s increasing needs for such services as healthcare.
Made with the support of the Public Interest Journalism Fund
