August 4, 2020

NZ Urban Development news from the media | 4 August 2020 | New rules to help our cities grow up and out

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Hi *|FNAME|*, Please find below Urban Development News from the media from the week of 3 August 2020.

Provided by Rockhopper Development Advisory, a member of:

New rules to help our cities grow up and out

New rules to help our fastest growing cities make room for their rising populations has been released by Urban Development Minister Phil Twyford and Environment Minister David Parker.

Phil Twyford said poor quality and restrictive planning has stopped our cities and communities from growing up and out.

“It has driven up the price of land and housing, and been a big driver behind the housing crisis. When overly restrictive planning creates an artificial scarcity of land on the outskirts of our cities, or floor space because of density limits in our city centres, house prices are driven up and people are denied housing options,” Phil Twyford said.

The National Policy Statement on Urban Development (NPS-UD) will direct councils – particularly in the five high growth centres of Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga, Wellington, and Christchurch – to free up their planning rules while focusing on well-functioning neighbourhoods and communities.

https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/new-rules-help-our-cities-grow-and-out

Plan to super-size Queenstown commuter town gets council nod

The first stage of a development that will quadruple the central Otago town of Kingston has been approved.

Kingston Village Ltd (KVL) has been granted resource consent to subdivide 217 residential lots in the town, which is 47 kilometres south of Queenstown, on the southern tip of Lake Wakatipu.

The company eventually wants to build 950 homes, visitor accommodation and possibly a school, on 88 hectares of Glen Nevis Station.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/property/122269704/plan-to-supersize-queenstown-commuter-town-gets-council-nod

Kiwi Property pushes out the opening of the Galleria at Sylvia Park to late 2020

Leading shopping centres owner Kiwi Property has pushed out the “Galleria” opening at Sylvia Park until the fourth quarter of the year.

The Galleria would open progressively from the fourth quarter because of the delays caused by lockdown. It adds 19,000 square metres of retail space at New Zealand’s largest mall. The Galleria’s anchor tenant is Farmers department store and it will have about another 60 retailers.

“Due to the construction halt that took place under the Level 4 lockdown the Galleria level will now open progressively from the fourth quarter of this year, rather than from the third quarter as previously intended,” Kiwi Property chief executive Clive Mackenzie said at the company’s virtual annual meeting.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/122301917/kiwi-property-pushes-out-the-opening-of-the-galleria-at-sylvia-park-to-late-2020

The Housing Dashboard

The Government housing programme dashboard is published by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, using publicly available information from various government agencies and partners. The June 2020 dashboard shows the latest facts on housing progress across the housing system.

https://www.hud.govt.nz/assets/News-and-Resources/Statistics-and-Research/Housing-Dashboard-2020/Housing-Dashboard-June-2020.pdf

Boost to upgrade state housing to be warmer, drier, healthier homes

More warmer, drier homes and a big building boost for regional centres across New Zealand are two of the major benefits from a $500 million investment in the upgrade and renewal of state homes.

Associate Housing Minister Kris Faafoi has confirmed the multi-million dollar expansion of the Kāinga Ora – Homes and Communities Retrofit Programme.

“This will see around 1,500 older state homes in 30 towns and cities across New Zealand upgraded and renewed over the next two and a half years; making them warmer, drier and healthier for tenants. Work on these homes is expected to start later this year,” Kris Faafoi said.

https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/boost-upgrade-state-housing-be-warmer-drier-healthier-homes