Property Insider: Fast-track approvals see 14 major projects pushed through under coalition scheme
Fourteen projects won fast-track approval this year alone. This system appears to be a big win for the coalition Government, resulting in national benefits, although criticism continues.
From wind farms to a new South Auckland housing estate, from a Waikato structural steel plant to upgrading a Bay of Plenty highway, retirement villages, solar and hydroelectric projects – fast-tracking is itself moving at pace this year as the projects roll in.
So far, 14 new schemes have been announced as part of the Fast-track Approvals Act since February 19.
They are all large and significant in terms of new construction and infrastructure.
Is this policy a big win for this Government?
The coalition Government’s scheme to cut objections and speed consenting for projects that are nationally significant began last February 7.
The aim is to make it quicker and easier to build the projects New Zealand needs to grow our economy, Infrastructure and RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Regional Development Minister Shane Jones say.
Developers are welcoming the scheme, with one saying it cuts so much red tape from what he is trying to do and gives more certainty about outcomes.
“It does take months, but it’s not the years it once was,” one said.
Reactions for and against
Graham Wilkinson of retirement giant Generus praised the fast-track process.
“Generally, it is a logical and more efficient consenting pathway where projects are large and there is the potential for parties not directly involved to frustrate them,” Wilkinson said.
“The obvious concern was that important environmental aspects may be overridden, but some projects have been rejected by their panel, suggesting fast-track is not a guaranteed outcome.
“The fee structure of around $500,000 also means that frivolous projects are unlikely.”
His project The Point, which aims to rebuild retirement village housing at Ōrākei, is in the fast-track process.
But some locals in areas affected are not leaping for joy.
“We’re getting all these new houses and a retirement village, yet the existing road network and infrastructure can’t cope. It will just make everything worse,” an Auckland resident said.
Alan McDonald, head of advocacy and strategy at the Employers and Manufacturers Association, says the fast-track process is enabling new critical infrastructure to be developed.
But some hold-ups had occurred even with fast-track, he said, citing Port of Tauranga relodging an application under the act for its proposed Stella Passage development.
That follows legislative amendments in December that corrected an error in how the project was described in the act’s schedule.
McDonald says replacement of the Resource Management Act (RMA) before the election could usurp fast-track.
“In theory, if the new RMA works as well as we would like, you may not need fast-track legislation.
“But I think the current Government wants to keep it in place as an additional tool in the box to more quickly approve nationally critical infrastructure projects.”
Wynyard Quarter resident Richard Greissman is not a fast-track fan.
He opposes Precinct Properties and Orams’ three-tower apartment development plans at 188 Beaumont St. He and others in a Madden St block opposite the site fear loss of views and shading.
He cited a Ministry for the Environment report that recommended against approving that application.
Yet the scheme won approval, and that left him disappointed.
Auckland Council also opposed fast-tracking when it was proposed, citing insufficient evidence and poor consultation processes.
Last August, up to 100 protesters confronted Resources Minister Shane Jones in Whangārei over two fast-track projects: a 250-berth marina at isolated Waipiro Bay, near Russell and a large-scale, offshore sand-mining proposal near Bream Bay.
Hamish Firth, a director of planners Mt Hobson Group, says his business has been involved in all three fast-track systems run by the state, starting with the Covid scheme.
“We think it’s a fantastic process which deals with large projects in a faster and more efficient way. It’s the certainty that comes in a shorter period of time that appeals.
“Often, council officers are inexperienced or ideological and that results in uncertainty for developers and infrastructure providers.”
Fast-track schemes Mt Hobson Group has worked on include 94 Feet’s Te Taumata at Queenstown, a 120-lot housing development on the Kāpiti Coast and a 12-level Auckland residential development.
Schemes listed
Significant property developments have this year been listed on the fast-track site, and are likely to result in the development of billions of dollars of new schemes.
The 14 schemes fast-tracked so far this year are:
- February 19: RCL Homestead Bay’s application to build 2800 homes and a new hub near Queenstown;
- February 24: new Hawke’s Bay Arataki housing project for Havelock North;
- March 10: Winton Land application for 3854 new homes at Sunfield housing estate, South Auckland;
- March 18: Waikato structural steel manufacturing plant;
- March 19: Major transport upgrade for Western Bay of Plenty;
- April 2: New Zealand’s largest wind farm project, Southland;
- April 7: Waitākere District Court: new courthouse project, Auckland;
- April 14: New screen and television hub at Winton’s Ayrburn hospitality estate beside Millbrook outside Arrowtown
- April 17: West Coast’s Waitahi hydro project south of Hokitika;
- April 21: Ashbourne housing estate in Waikato approved – 518 new homes and two solar farms;
- May 1: Ngāi Tahu Property Development Holdings’ Pound Road development, Christchurch, approval for industrial lots;
- May 7: Carter Group’s 126 industrial lots at Ryans Rd, Harewood, Christchurch;
- May 15: $100m+ Wellington International Airport Southern seawall renewal project;
- May 15: Kaimai hydro-electric power project in Bay of Plenty.
By the numbers
A joint May 15 statement from Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop and Regional Development Minister Shane Jones gave fast-track numbers as:
- 23 projects approved by expert panels since regime began.
- 16 projects with expert panels appointed.
- 46 projects progressing through the fast-track process: 25 active substantive and 21 referral applications.
- 47 projects have been referred to fast-track by Bishop;
- 149 projects are listed in the Fast-track Approvals Act, meaning they can apply for fast-track approval.
- Average 118 working days for decisions on substantive applications from when officials determine an application is complete and in scope.
Fast-track projects approved by expert panels:
- Arataki, Havelock North (housing/land);
- Ashbourne, scheme for 530 new homes, 250 retirement units, Matamata (housing/land);
- Ayrburn Screen Hub, Arrowtown (infrastructure);
- Green Steel, Waikato (infrastructure);
- Homestead Bay, Queenstown (housing/land);
- Bledisloe North Wharf and Fergusson North berth extension, Auckland (infrastructure);
- Drury metropolitan centre, Auckland, consolidated stages one and two (housing/land);
- Drury quarry expansion, Sutton Block, Auckland (mining/quarrying);
- Kings Quarry expansion, Wainui, Auckland, stages two and three (mining/quarrying);
- Kaimai hydro-electric power scheme (renewable energy);
- Maitahi Village (housing/land);
- Milldale, Auckland, stages 4C and 10 to 13 (housing/land);
- Pound Rd, Christchurch (housing/land);
- Rangitoopuni, Riverhead, Auckland, housing and retirement village (housing/land);
- Ryans Road, Christchurch (housing/land);
- Southland wind farm project (renewable energy);
- Sunfield, South Auckland (housing/land);
- Tekapo power scheme – applications for replacement resource consents (renewable energy);
- Takitimu north link – stage two (infrastructure);
- Waihī North (mining/quarrying);
- Waitaha hydro (renewable energy);
- Waitākere District Court – new courthouse (infrastructure);
- Wellington International Airport southern seawall renewal (infrastructure).
Expert panels have been appointed for:
- Bendigo-Ophir gold project;
- Bream Bay sand extraction project;
- Central and southern block mining project, Takaroa near Te Kūiti;
- Delmore residential subdivision and roading interchange, Ōrewa;
- Downtown carpark site development, CBD, Auckland;
- Foxton solar farm;
- Haldon solar farm;
- Hananui aquaculture project;
- Lake Pūkaki hydro storage and dam resilience works;
- Mahinerangi wind farm 50k west of Dunedin;
- Mt Iron Junction 263 high-density residential dwellings, a childcare centre, a retail building, a restaurant, a service station, and parks at Wānaka;
- Northwest rapid transit between Brigham Creek and Auckland City centre;
- State Highway 1 North Canterbury – Woodend bypass project, Belfast to Pegasus;
- Stella passage development: extension of the Sulphur Point and Mount Maunganui wharves at the Port of Tauranga;
- The Point Mission Bay replacement retirement village, Auckland;
- The Point 650ha solar farm, near Tekapo.
Anne Gibson has been the Herald’s property editor for 26 years, written books and covered property extensively here and overseas.
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