Council approves SHA plan

Four new Nelson Special Housing Areas have been approved, and the accord that allows the fast-tracked housing developments extended until 2021.

After heated debate and presentations by developers, Nelson City Council approved the areas, subject to certain conditions at a meeting yesterday.

A further 80-lot Special Housing Area (SHA) at 12 Wakapuaka Rd on land currently zoned rural could also be on the way. The north Nelson farmland block is adjacent to State Highway 6 and Ellendale St, between Marybank and Todds Valley.

Some councillors raised concerns there could be backlash if the Wakapuaka Rd site’s zoning was changed to residential without talking to the community, as happened with a SHA approved at Farleigh St, Atawhai last year.

The council also signed off SHAs at 416 Trafalgar St, 153 Nayland Rd, 53 Halifax St, and 42 St Lawrence St.

(The Nelson Mail, Wednesday 29 March 2017)

An ‘‘old and neglected’’ building will be demolished on Nelson’s Trafalgar St to make way for a new Special Housing Area (SHA).

The site at 416 upper Trafalgar St is expected to soon be home to at least five new units after receiving the green light from Nelson City Council as one of four new SHAs across the city.

SHAs are approved under the Housing Accord, which as an agreement between the council and central government seeking to fast-track new developments to increase housing stock.

416 Trafalgar St SHA

• Minimum of five units
• 8 metre height maximum, two-storey house option
• 2-3 bedroom homes
• Freehold purchase sites

The Nelson Mail, Thursday 30 March 017)

The decision on whether to proceed with the proposed Waimea dam ‘‘cannot be resolved by a popular community vote’’, says Tasman District Council chief executive Lindsay McKenzie.

His comment comes in the latest status report on the controversial project, which has an estimated $82.5 million price tag. TDC is a potential partner in the project for which it has earmarked $25m in its Long Term Plan 2015-25.

In his report, McKenzie outlines matters councillors should consider ‘‘if, for example, you were minded to not proceed with the project because of a concern about a disproportionate allocation of cost and risk to the council’’.

Those matters include the extent to which such a decision would or would not:

• meet the current and future needs of the community for a safe and secure water supply;
• address the key issues for the community that were identified in the Long Term Plan including water supply resilience;
• maintain and enhance the natural environment;
• constitute a sustainable development approach especially taking into account the needs of future generations;
• enable the council’s obligations under the National Policy Statement on Urban Development Capacity to be met.

‘‘This is not an exhaustive list but you will immediately see the tension that exists between the role of council in decision making and what many people may say to you that it should be,’’ McKenzie says.

(The Nelson Mail, Thursday 30 March 2017)

Resource consent has been granted for a proposed 63-lot subdivision at Wakefield.

Earmarked for a residential zoned site that borders Edward St and Pitfure Rd, the proposed development has residential allotments ranging from 650 square metres to 985 square metres. It is tipped to be developed in four stages. There are also associated resource consents for land disturbance and stormwater discharge.

Consent documentation from Tasman District Council shows new roads are planned to service the allotments including one to run between Pitfure Rd and Edward St, linking with McRae St. These will be vested in the council along with three lots for the widening of Pitfure Rd and Edward St.

TDC is to buy a 200 square metre strip of land to allow access from the rear of council pensioner housing to the roading network ‘‘for any further development of this site should it take place’’, the consent decision says.

The plan also includes the provision of a stormwater detention basin that must be formed, operational and also vested with the council with the first stage.

Pitfure Stream has been prone to flooding on the lower terraces of the application site in the past.

(The Nelson Mail, Friday 31 March 2017)

Plans for a Nelson-Tasman regional landfill have received a preliminary nod from the Commerce Commission.

The Nelson city and Tasman district councils asked for Commerce Commission authorisation to establish a Regional Landfill Business Unit to manage and operate the city council’s York Valley site at Bishopdale and TDC’s Eves Valley landfill at Waimea West.

Under the councils’ proposal, waste from across the NelsonTasman region will go to the York Valley site until it reaches capacity and then to Eves Valley, which will be redeveloped.

The Commerce Commission has reached a preliminary view that, subject to a condition the councils use profits generated to fund waste-related activities and services only, it should allow them to form a business unit to jointly operate the two landfills.

In its draft determination, the Commerce Commission says, in its view, the two landfills ‘‘constrain each other’s pricing’’. They are located ‘‘relatively close’’ to one another and compete for solid waste.

(The Nelson Mail, Friday 31 March 2017)

Why did a San Diego-based venture capitalist buy up a Nelson hop farm for $10 million and what does that mean for Nelson's growing industry? Charles Anderson reports.

Michael Robert Stone has always been an avid collector - baseball cards, coins, stamps, beer cans and hats. Eight years ago he even opened a rare map museum in his hometown of La Jolla, San Diego. But now the Harvard business grad turned venture capitalist and his company, FS Investors, have another item to add to the collection - a New Zealand hop farm.

Last year, the Overseas Investment Office okayed the sale of the 119 hectare farm in Upper Moutere for $9.8 million.

It was the first such purchase by an overseas buyer of a hop farm, which FS Investors has labelled Freestyle Farms.

David Dunbar, FS Investors' partner, said San Diego was a "hotbed" of global craft beer and its proprietors had been exposed to many different brewers over the years

"We have invested quite a lot beyond the initial purchase price and we are trying to figure out as we go what additional improvements make financial sense."

It would be increasing the planting which would lead to more jobs in the region, he said.

The company bought the farm from the Eggers family, who were one of the first hop farmers in the region, having settled from Germany in the early 1900s.

The purchase comes on the back of an impressive year for the industry. The 2016 harvest was 794,017 kilograms off 412 hectares with 94 per cent of the crop sold before harvest.

This was up from 682,500 kgs in 2013. While 85 percent of NZ Hops product was exported it only made up 1 per cent of all worldwide hop production.

NZ Hops chief executive, Doug Donelan, said the company was on track to expand with new growers coming onboard which would increase the number of growers by 30 percent over the next five years.

(The Nelson Mail, Saturday 31 March 2017)

An upgrade could be on the way for Nelson’s council buildings.

Nelson City councillors have voted to send out a ‘‘request for proposals’’ for concept designs to revamp the inside of Civic House.

This includes the council’s tower block, ex-Post Office Savings Bank and the former State Advances Building which serve as the corporate headquarters for council staff.

The proposals will ask for advice on how best to upgrade the internal office space, providing concepts and costings. The council will then decide if it wants to proceed with any works.

The council has earmarked just over $800,000 for a potential upgrade.

(The Nelson Mail, Saturday 31 March 2017)

Thought for the Week

(Lucy MacDonald)