Growth returns to normal in North Canterbury
From local democracy reporter David Hill:
North Canterbury has returned to ‘‘normal growth’’ after a two-year building boom, say local real estate agents.
Real estate agents said there was a noticeable easing off in property sales in the middle of last year, after two years of unprecedented growth.
This was reflected in the number of consents issued for new houses in Waimakariri falling back in December, which was the quietest month in years.
Consent numbers were also down in Kaikōura, but Hurunui was bucking the trend.
Hurunui District Council building and property manager Kerry Walsh said a record 197 consents for new houses were issued in 2022, up from 170 in 2021.
‘‘The major growth areas have been in Amberley and Hanmer Springs, along with the rural regions surrounding those areas.
‘‘We are expecting that the number of houses in both areas will remain steady over 2023.’’
The Waimakariri District Council granted 828 consents for new houses last year, compared to 928 in 2021 and less than 600 in 2020.
The biggest growth has been in the Townsend Fields (Rangiora), Silverstream (Kaiapoi) and Ravenswood (Woodend) sub-divisions and at Pegasus.
Harcourts sales consultant Christine Tallott said sales were down at Townsend Fields, but interest remained strong.
‘‘Buyers are a little bit nervous with the increase in costs to build and the delays.
‘‘But Rangiora has become a very sought after place to live.’’
Inquiries were strong for Townsend Fields stage four, which was yet to go on sale.
Ray White Rangiora manager Stuart Morris said the cost of living, rising interest rates, supply chain issues, economic uncertainty and a lack of available land were all having an impact.
He said there was less land available in Woodend and Kaiapoi, while Amberley’s new developments were waiting for titles to be issued.
‘‘But we have to remember we don’t normally see that level of building we have had in the last few years, so I think we are moving back to a more normal rate of growth.’’
Morris said first home buyers were starting to return, after a noticeable drop last year.
Bayleys Rangiora and Hanmer Springs manager Ross Ditmer said while residential sales had eased back, lifestyle block sales remained strong.
‘‘We are coming back to normal after the boom. If you go back two or three years ago, our sales in December were pretty comparable.’’
But he said the looming general election could create more uncertainty and lead to vendors and buyers being more hesitant.
Waimakariri District Council planning, regulation and environment general manager Tracy Tierney said consent applications in December were considerably lower than in previous years and January was following a similar pattern.
More than 560 amendments were made to approved building consents in 2022, ‘‘up three-fold compared to previous years’’.
‘‘This was mainly as a result of the need for product substitution during the build process,’’ she said.
‘‘Industry commentators are anticipating a slowdown in building activity this year from the highs of 2021 and 2022.’’
Mayor Dan Gordon said Waimakariri’s continued growth presented its challenges.
‘‘We are still one of the fastest growing areas in the country, so managing growth is still a priority and making sure we have the infrastructure in place.
‘‘We are working with our Greater Christchurch partners for growth opportunities and building the case for investment from central government.’’
Walsh said there were some major commercial developments consented in 2022 in the Hurunui.
These included the Amberley Country Estate retirement village, some major works at Rodin cars in Waiau and school building projects.
The Kaikōura District Council received 86 resource consent applications, compared to 84 in 2021.
It issued 134 building consents, including 29 for new houses, compared to 154 in 2021.
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Waimakariri district plan faces more delays amid changing rules
By David Hill, Local Democracy Reporter
Changing Government legislation is causing headaches for council staff, as Waimakariri’s new District Plan is set to be delayed again.
Waimakariri District Council development planning manager Matt Bacon said he was relieved when the last of the public hearings ended last week.
But with final council reports due on December 13, staff will have just two working days to present the final District Plan on December 17. A district plan helps to control and manage the development of the district or city.
‘‘We are working through what it looks like and we will update the council at its meeting on December 3,’’ Bacon said.
‘‘But we will likely seek another extension from the environment minister and the Resource Management Act (RMA) minister.’’
The council first notified its draft District Plan in September 2021, but within months legislation was introduced with new medium density residential housing standards (MDRS).
‘‘We needed to call for further submissions and we had to create a separate hearing panel to consider the plan variations to allow for the MDRS,’’ Bacon said.
‘‘We have tried to merge the process as much as possible, as well as looking at re-zoning and incorporating other new legislation.’’
When the draft plan was first notified there was no National Policy Statement (NPS) for Indigenous Biodiversity, but an NPS was introduced - and then replaced.
The Natural and Built Environment Act came into being last year and then repealed, and then there is the NPS on Urban Development and the Greater Christchurch Spatial Plan.
The Government is now working on more RMA reforms and Environment Canterbury is working on the Canterbury Regional Policy Statement.
And then there is the Fast-Track Approvals Bill, which includes three proposed housing developments in Waimakariri - two of them outside of the future urban development areas identified in the Greater Christchurch Spatial Plan.
All three housing developments in the Bill have been included in submissions to the District Plan, including a proposed 850-home development at Ohoka, near Rangiora, which is also subject to an Environment Court appeal.
‘‘We haven’t seen the detail, so whether it is the same proposals, we don’t know, but they are different processes so we have to just keep doing what we are doing, until we are told otherwise,’’ Bacon said.
‘‘It might just be a timing thing, but we just don’t know.’’
Bacon said delaying the District Plan until new legislation is in place is not an option.
‘‘We are looking at what we can control and having a watching brief, and we will look at transitional timings because we don’t always have to immediately change planning documents when new legislation comes in.’’
Planning manager Wendy Harris said navigating changing Government legislation is a normal part of council planning work.
‘‘If we waited we wouldn’t do anything and we would go nowhere.’’
■ LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
The tiger who came to tea
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