City land unlocked
A DUNEDIN hill suburb looks set for a major expansion, as new rules could unlock land for almost 1000 new homes across the city.
Potential sites for residential development were announced this morning and a solid chunk of the planned rezoning is in Helensburgh, north of Wakari.
Other areas include Portobello, Kenmure, Sunnyvale, Concord and Mosgiel.
A series of zoning decisions from the Dunedin City Council covers areas where the city could grow through greenfields development and this is expected to result in about 970 new houses in the next decade.
Various properties in or near Wakari Rd could yield between 263 and 412 new dwellings, the council estimated.
An appeal period for the greenfields rezoning in the city ends on March 21.
Earlier hearings were focused on rule changes that allowed housing intensification within Dunedin.
Those are expected to result in 1900 new homes in the city over 10 years.
Council city development manager Dr Anna Johnson said Dunedin was poised to have comfortably enough housing capacity to cover a population scenario of medium growth and the city would also be prepared if higher growth were to happen.
Dr Johnson said the city was well prepared for growth in a range of scenarios.
The hearing process was at one point delayed by a government national policy statement about highly productive soils, but Dr Johnson confirmed this stricter policy did not prompt any major shift in direction.
Hearing panel chairman Gary Rae said the latest batch of decisions, together with what was determined at previous hearings, would help ensure Dunedin ‘‘has access to a range of options for new housing to meet its needs over the short and longer term’’.
‘‘Our focus has been on determining which sites are most suitable for future development in Dunedin, including access to three waters and other key infrastructure, and we’re confident the greenfield sites approved best fit the needs of a growing city,’’ Mr Rae said.
Other matters considered by the panel included transport network safety and efficiency, proximity to services, risk from natural hazards and a desire to maintain a compact and accessible city, the council said.
Any planned changes that were not appealed to the Environment Court would replace existing rules and other changes would depend on the result of appeals.
The hearing about greenfields development is at the tail of a broad fourhearing process known as Variation 2 to the city council’s secondgeneration district plan.
The first three hearings involved rezoning of 248ha.
The latest hearing covered a further 115ha.
Development trends show the number of consents issued for building new homes in Dunedin has been climbing since 2020.
Construction of dwellings has increased since 2020, but at a slower rate.