The Spinoff: New fast-track fights, growth paying for growth v local backlash
Spokesperson McRae
“The mayors of Waimakariri and Selwyn have joined Brown in his backlash and Queenstown mayor John Glover has also supported calls for a pause on fast-track housing developments.”
Devonport is not one village objecting. It is a pattern.
“Bishop recently declined to refer the Pegasus Golf Course redevelopment under fast track, a decision Waimakariri mayor Dan Gordon called ‘a wonderful win for the community’. The developer had planned to turn the 18-hole course into 1000 homes, but the community rallied, gathering more than 16,000 signatures against the proposal.” The government can say no to a fast track referral. It has already done it this month.
“Local group Devonport Heritage opposes the fast-track referral, which they say bypasses usual submission rights … arguing they will ‘screen’ views of the local maunga and ‘dwarf the historic main street buildings’.”Read the full article