Demand has been stimulated by historic low mortgage interest rates, meaning more people can afford to borrow; a major shortage of housing stock in the region; population growth; and investors.
Improved access to the region with more airlines, flights and visitors was also having an impact, Marshall said. Holidaymakers – both domestically and internationally – were being converted into home buyers.
The manic housing market in other parts of the country was also seeing people priced-out of places like Auckland looking to Nelson-Tasman as an attractive location to live, raise families, and do business.
As a result, the median house price in Nelson hit $450,000 in June – a record high, up from $360,000 a year ago.
Since the 2007 peak, house values have increased 21.4 per cent in Nelson and 13.9 per cent in Tasman, QV Nelson valuer Craig Russell said.
‘‘I don’t know if it’s a crisis in Nelson as such,’’ Total Realty sales consultant Simon Collins said. ‘‘But I would say I’d call it uncomfortable.’’
(The Nelson Mail, Tuesday, August 23rd, 2016)
As public feedback for Nelson airport’s $32 million terminal redevelopment builds momentum, its use of wood as a primary building material has been praised for being a tribute and a showpiece for the region.
Breaking from the traditional use of concrete and steel, the use of laminated veneer lumber - or LVL - from Nelson Pine Industries will be integral to the structure.
Around 440m3 of locally resourced timber has gone into the modular project, which absorbs seismic loads and makes room for unobstructed clear open views internally.
Nelson Airport chief executive Rob Evans was excited to have such innovative design used in the ambitious project but admitted there were some initial reservations about the concept.
‘‘Building in timber is still not that prevalent in New Zealand so I think the fact we were able to get a functional building working and do it structurally with the timber is pretty neat.’’
He said the design was appropriate given the value of the forestry and wood processing industry in the Nelson region.
‘‘In a New Zealand sense particularly it’s very unique and it will set itself apart and it will make a statement about how that industry is so important here.’’
The new terminal design was created by Studio Pacific Architecture, which is also responsible for Wellington Airport’s ‘‘Rock’’ terminal. The project will be managed by Aesculus Project Management. Dunning Thornton and CGW are the engineers.
The project will take about 24 months to complete with an anticipated completion date of late 2018.
(The Nelson Mail, Wednesday, August 17th, 2016)
The estimated cost of the new Stoke Community Centre has blown out by $350,000 – close to $1 million more than a year ago.
The Nelson City Council community services committee recommended that council approve the additional funding at a meeting on Thursday.
It would bring the total budget for the project to $6,490,000, close to $1 million more than it was in July last year.
The designers had underestimated the costs of items required for heating and cooling the facility.
The project team has explored other ways to save money, including replacing the ‘‘green’’ heating system with a conventional one; removing the dividing doors between the main hall and meeting spaces; and removing the proposed cafe space. The proposed cuts could potentially save up to $375,000.
The council will decide on one of three options for the project at a meeting on September 8.
(The Nelson Mail, Friday, August 19th, 2016)
Proposed changes to relax rural land use restrictions might make it easier for Tasman residents to live more affordably and cooperatively.
Golden Bay locals spoke out at a Planning and Environment Hearing in Takaka on Tuesday about their strong desire for rule changes.
The review of the Rural Land Use and Subdivision Policy in the Tasman Resource Management Plan (TRMP) is result of a longstanding push by residents to relax the rules around zoning of rural land.
It would allow for more residential development and cooperative living arrangements; when family or friends share a common residential property and live in two or more dwellings.
Proposed changes included raising the consent status of cooperative living land use activity in the rural 1 and 2 zones from ‘‘restricted discretionary level’’ to ‘‘discretionary level’’.
It would also allow for cooperative living on rural residential sites greater than 2ha.
DC communications advisor Chris Choat said the hearings panel would make a determination scheduled for September 2-8.
‘‘Following this, decisions will be made and publicly notified. There is an appeals process available in respect of these decisions.’’
(The Nelson Mail, Friday, August 19th, 2016)
The Tasman District Council will spend $30,000 to address flooding at Murchison’s Neds Creek. The work is likely to involve widening the creek and bunding in the area.
The creek, which runs through low lying land on the southern side of the town, regularly floods homes, garages and the grounds of the Murchison Sport
Recreation and Cultural Centre as it runs toward the Matakitaki River.
Blakemore said fencing and planting of part of the stream from 2003 was partially to blame with vegetation trapping silt and narrowing the waterway.
In 2012 the stream flooded three times and the council commissioned consultants MWH to model the flooding to better understand its causes.
(The Nelson Mail, Friday, August 19th, 2016)
Tasman District Council has put up a roadblock on plans to provide access to about 30 landlocked properties on Best Island.
In a report to the confidential meeting, released on Thursday, chief executive Lindsay McKenzie says ‘‘... I can put my hand on my heart and say that council, its staff and advisers have gone to considerable cost and extraordinary lengths to try and resolve this’’.
That was because most of the benefit was for private property owners, although the council does have a recreation reserve and boat ramp on the island. There was also a risk an arbitrated price or a price determined by the Land Valuation Tribunal could be unacceptable to the council or residents, McKenzie says.‘‘I now recommend that council gives what support and advice it can to the parties but leaves it to the residents to resolve the access issue.’’
Landowner Frances Ashton said she had only received the report on Thursday and had not had time to read it in depth.
However, she said the council had created the situation over 30 years and questioned how it could take rates and ‘‘not resolve the issue of access fairly’’.
(The Nelson Mail, Friday, August 19th, 2016)
“There is nothing impossible
to him who will try.”
Alexander the Great