REGION ADDED TO HOUSING SCHEME

Buying a house in the region could become more realistic for struggling families, with Nelson and Tasman now the latest additions to the Government’s fast-track Housing Accord legislation. Parts of Bishopdale, Wakatu, south Richmond and Atawhai have all been noted as potential areas for low-cost housing development, as the Nelson City and Tasman district councils look to work with the Government to provide more affordable housing. The councils will join others including Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington, which have created housing accords through the legislation in conjunction with the central Government. The legislation aims to improve housing supply and affordability by removing regulatory barriers that hold up housing development. Building and Housing Minister Nick Smith said the accords ‘‘cut the red tape’’, enabling the creation of special housing areas where developments could be fast tracked.  Nelson Mayor Rachel Reese said the council had identified housing affordability and choice as priority issues and she applauded the minister for adding Nelson to the legislation. 

(The Nelson Mail Monday, December 15, 2014) 

ACCORD TO INCREASE LOW-COST HOUSING

Smith said he wanted to have an accord reached with the councils early next year and have special housing areas designated and progressed by the end of 2015. In April the Government will launch the Home start scheme, which provides grants of up to $20,000 to first-home buyers, and he sees this scheme working alongside the Housing Accord legislation. The grants will be available to about 2500 Nelson and Tasman families. Smith said the Government’s plan was to provide a combination of financial support and affordable homes. 

(The Nelson Mail Monday, December 15, 2014) 

BURNER OK

(The Nelson Mail Tuesday, December 16, 2014) 

QUEST TO KEEP MUSIC PLAYING

Deep holes are being drilled below ground to make sure the Nelson School of Music stays well above it in the event of an earthquake. A geotechnical investigation is being undertaken on the land the school of music sits on after the Nile St building was closed late last year when it was listed as earthquake prone. The investigation involves drilling holes into the ground to depths of 15 metres to establish the quality of the soil. Project manager Matthew Kidson said the investigation was to see what the soil quality was like so that a detailed final design for the building could be progressed. ‘‘There has been a concept design done and it’s based around an assumption, but to take it to a detailed design we need to know what’s actually there.’’  He said major strengthening work was undertaken in 1969 but further work needed to be done to make sure the walls didn’t move independently and the roof collapse. He said strengthening work would only be on the exterior of the building and the interior of the auditorium would remain unchanged. 

(The Nelson Mail Wednesday, December 17, 2014) 

CHANGES TO RULES ON AIR QUALITY MOOTED

A review and possible relaxation of woodburner regulations will be underway as soon as possible, Nelson mayor Rachel Reese says. At yesterday’s full Nelson City Council meeting councillors voted to get the ball rolling so that a plan review and change could start next year. Councillors unanimously voted to bring a review of the Nelson Air Quality Plan forward by three years commencing immediately, to consult the community, to engage with the minister and Ministry for the Environment, to continue monitoring air sheds, to look into alternative woodburner options, to put money aside for the work in the long term plan and to give priority to the air chapter of the Nelson Plan so any changes can be made operative as soon as possible. The recommendations came from the woodburner working party. A plan change is the only way the council can legally adapt the current regulations and Mayor Rachel Reese said this was the fastest way to achieve that. 

(The Nelson Mail Friday, December 19, 2014) 

OUR SKYLINE'S FOREVER CHANGING

The topping off of the five-storey Quest Apartments is concrete proof of how well the construction industry is doing in Nelson, says its project manager. The $5 million build of 40 serviced apartments in Collingwood St is halfway through, with construction on target to finish in April and open in May. Nelson Tasman Chamber of Commerce chief executive Dot Kettle called it a fantastic project. ‘‘This is exactly what the region needs. This sort of investment and quality offering will bring more visitors, more frequently and enable them to stay longer because of the mix-use apartment style accommodation which is different and complements what’s already on offer.’’ When she and Nelson Regional Economic Development Agency chief executive Bill Findlater placed their hands in the fifth-floor concrete she declared the view from the top was great. ‘‘I think it will be a trailblazer and hopefully others will follow. I’m not sure they will be of this size, but we will see greater intensification with a mix of retail, office and inner city living. It is being developed by local investors, which is great to see that commitment and investment and people seeing a positive future for the CBD and the region.’’  Arrow International is the main contractor and its Nelson manager Steve Kelso described the construction industry as healthy, with a good forward workload anticipated.  ‘‘That’s a heck of a lot of weight,’’ he said. The hotel includes a mix of one-bedroom, two-bedroom, studio and accessibility units with kitchen, bathroom and lounge. Quest describes it as a 4-star building with 4.5 star service.  

Going Up

Nelson

This year Nelson city has granted 176 commercial building consents.

Major work includes:

Quest Apartments; Suter Gallery; 3 workshop buildings; education buildings including new classrooms and two-storey teaching block; commercial buildings and offices at airport; refined marine oil plant; new showroom; new water storage facility; hatchery building.

Tasman

Construction under way; Building next to the Kmart complex; Olive Estate has begun with a total 112 villas, 30 two-storey terrace buildings, 3 apartment blocks and a health facility with 58 apartments; Motueka subdivision developed by Wakatu: Kaiteriteri motor camp development: Mapua 15 residential sites.  In the pipeline: gained consent but not started: Supermarket in Hope; Industrial/commercial development at Lower Queen St; Brightwater 2 residential subdivisions; Richmond residential development.  Consent applications being made; Supermarket Champion Rd; Hope residential development.

(The Nelson Mail Friday, December 19, 2014) 

NEW TWIST IN MAPUA CONTAMINATION

Hundreds of Mapua residents have had a nasty Christmas surprise from the Tasman District Council – a letter telling them their homes might be on chemically-contaminated land. It says a note will be added to the Land Information Memorandum (LIM) reports on their properties, and gives them until January 15 to appeal the designation. The council has been updating its Hazardous Activities and Industries List in accordance with the Government’s National Environmental Standard requirements. The same exercise has been happening in Nelson and other regions.  Council environmental information manager Robert Smith said the council bought a digitised 1940s aerial photo resource earlier in the year, and using this, it had identified 340 properties that were not already on the Site Contamination Register (SCR), which lists about 1100 properties of different sizes and types.  ‘‘The sites are spread around the Tasman District, but many of the new sites are in the Mapua and Richmond area, as they are the urbanised areas on former orchard land,’’ Smith said. ‘‘Some are rural properties, some urban.’’ In Tasman, land that was orchards before 1975 could exceed national limits for persistent agrichemicals, typically arsenic and DDT. Smith said a listing didn’t mean contamination, but that the land was ‘‘more likely than not’’ to have ‘‘residual products’’ from the orchards in the soil. Many of the sites were quite suitable for housing, but unless there was soil testing, the council couldn’t know for sure. The Nelson City Council has more than 1800 properties on its Hazardous Activities and Industries List, mainly in areas where there were once orchards and glasshouses. It went public on the issue last year, explaining that the new classification did not increase the actual risk to anyone but would need to be added to LIM reports. It has a map of the affected parts of the city in the building and planning section on its website. 

(The Nelson Mail Saturday, December 20, 2014) 

HANGER CLOSES

Nelson’s historical No 3 Hangar is to close its doors to Helicopter New Zealand (HNZ) after more than 50 years of business. The company, which deploys helicopters and crew to various operations in South East Asia and Antarctica, will move to the main administration building at Nelson Airport to cater to the growing administration and flight operation departments. ‘‘We made plans for structural work to be done [on No 3 Hangar] and I believe that will be carried out after we leave,’’ said managing director Denis Laird. 

(The Nelson Mail Saturday, December 20, 2014) 

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK