Te Anau Community Board hopes to review plans for old subdivision
Wednesday, 25 September 2019
A $2.38 million dollar block of land may be the answer to help ease Te Anau's housing shortage as the community board looks to dust off plans for its Luxmore subdivision.
The Te Anau Community Board on Wednesday approved a recommendation to ask the Southland District Council for $32,700 to pay for a review the subdivision's consented layout and to see what options there may be to improve on it due.
The 12.6 hectare block is on the eastern corner of town.
QV.co.nz values the block at $2.38 million.
According to the website, the land, a part of the Luxmore development, has increased in value four-fold since 2015.
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Ahead of the board meeting, chair Sarah Greaney says this piece of Luxmore will provide a blended mix of high density worker accommodation and some two storey dwellings.
'We know we've got a housing issue, long-term locals and seasonal workers are struggling to find housing,' she says.
They will not be quarter acre blocks, Greaney says.
Two other large land parcels in Te Anau were hit hard by the global financial crisis.
Greaney says the Delta and Heritage developments were left struggling as money dried up after the crisis.
The board is working with consultancy firm Opus International on the review.
Greaney says accommodating the ideal mix of fixed residents and seasonal workers is crucial.
'We don't want to flood the market with sections that won't be built.
'We don't want people to land-bank and not build,' Greaney says.
She says this week's Census data showed Te Anau's growing population and housing shortage supported the board's view that the time was right to make a move on the subdivision.
Council property services manager Kevin McNaught says it is too early to say if the council will develop the land itself or how many dwellings may be built.
'It's too early for that. This is what the review is looking to find out,' McNaught says.