Council to oppose 850-home development in rural Canterbury town

Nicole Mathewson Reporter from Northern Outlook

From reporter Amber Allott:

A North Canterbury council will oppose a subdivision that could transform a rural village into a town, but developers say the development will provide new homes and an economic boost to the district.

Earlier this month, the Waimakariri District Council put a private plan change request for an 850-house development at Ohoka out for public submissions.

Rolleston Industrial Developments – owned by the Carter Group’s Philip and Tim Carter – wants to rezone 155.9 hectares of farmland between Whites, Bradleys, and Mill roads to residential land.

The subdivision would be called Ohoka Estate, built in stages with most sections between 500 and 1000 square metres. It would also feature shops, a public square, and a school or retirement village.

Waimakariri District mayor Dan Gordon confirmed the council would be making a submission opposing the private plan change, and “urbanising part of Ohoka”.

Since the council had decided to make a submission, the application would now be handled by independent commissioners.

The council had hired an independent lawyer and specialists to help prepare the submission, he said, and the draft would be considered at their August 2 meeting. It would be publicly available on the council website closer to that date.

Due to public interest in the private plan change, the council also had someone on hand to help explain the process and give advice on how to lodge a submission.

Several of Ohoka’s 600 residents had voiced concerns a big development would destroy the little village’s quaint, rural nature, and said the sudden influx of new residents would put a strain on existing infrastructure.

Ohoka is currently home to mostly larger homes on lifestyle blocks, plus some smaller properties, a domain, community hall, primary school, petrol station and small church. House prices range from about $1.2 million to $3.5m.

Analysis by the Christchurch, Selwyn and Waimakariri district councils, released last August, also found greater Christchurch would need 77,000 more homes in the next 30 years.

The Carter Group’s Philip Carter said they believed it was important there were housing opportunities in Waimakariri for both new and current residents.

“Our proposed subdivision will not only provide supply for new houses, it will also give the district an economic boost.”

They would talk to local iwi and the community to get their input as the development progressed, he said.

“We are very conscious of the high-quality village atmosphere of Ohoka, with its extensive large-scale trees and streams, and our proposed development will keep existing trees and use rural style roads and fencing.”

Carter said they were proposing a good mix of section sizes, including larger sections of 0.5 to one hectare close to smaller sections, “all of which will have rural outlooks”.

“We want to ensure Ohoka Estate is well-connected to the existing Ohoka Village and that we maintain Ohoka's special rural character.”