Will Showgrounds developer seek further changes to resource consent?

Tuesday, 27 June 2023

The developer of The Showgrounds retail centre in Timaru has used the maximum allowable area of personal service retail sites in the first stage of the development.

Questions over whether the developer of a large retail centre in Timaru may again apply to alter resource consents have been raised by elected officials.

Speaking at a council meeting last week, councillors Stu Piddington and Allan Booth asked a number of questions relating to the 34,000sqm development, The Showgrounds.

Piddington asked if there were still concerns about the developer having managed to “shrink” the size of stores in the first stage of the development.

Timaru District Holdings Limited (TDHL) chairperson Mark Rogers said there had been no change to the requirements on the developer in terms of the number of retail outlets and the footprint in the contract with TDHL.

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Rogers said the only changes were those which had been made as a result of the variations to the resource consent approved by the council last year.

A St Pierre's Sushi store is yet to open at the development.

The holdings company sold the land to Redwood Qt in October 2019. In April 2021, TDHL released a redacted copy of the Sale and Purchase Agreement for the site, confirming the first stage had been sold for $6.4million. The company has stated the sale prices for the remaining lots of land will remain confidential until settlement.

In September 2022, variations to the resource consent for the site were granted by the Timaru District Council. Those allowed the developer to move its food and beverage area into the first stage, add a storey to a building expected to house a Lone Star franchise, install larger signage outside the development, build closer to State Highway 1 than the original consent allowed and include smaller personal services retail tenancies in the first stage.

Booth, who was also chair of the Timaru CBD Group, asked whether that meant the developer, Tony Gapes of Redwood Group, had “used up all his personal services” in the first stage.

Countdown, the first business to open at the development in March 2023.

TDHL general manager Fraser Munro confirmed that was the case, and said he had now used the entire allocation. The consent for the site allows for service retail, businesses providing services to an individual such as a hairdresser or dry cleaner, to make up just 5% of the total area of the development.

Booth asked whether they would be able to make further changes, and if the rules outlined in the Sales and Purchase Agreement would apply to any third party, should the land be on-sold.

Munro said the planning rules applied to the entire zone and would not allow for changes if a lot was sold off.

The intersection of Grants Rd and SH1/Evans St.

He said the TDHL agreement relied heavily on the provisions of the District Plan.

“The mechanism that controls the amount of personal services retail on the site is the District Plan.”

The site of the next stage of the development, which is expected to house a Lone Star restaurant, on Tuesday.

Which would mean the developer would have to go through a consenting process to make changes, he said.

A year ago, Booth raised concerns about the possibility of further requests to change the land use consents, saying they would effectively allow “the death by a thousand cuts of our CBD”.

At the time, he questioned the robustness of the Sale and Purchase and Deed of Variation agreements which had been entered into by TDHL on behalf of the council.

An impression of new Lone Star Building proposed at the Showgrounds Hill development.

Piddington also asked what land TDHL still owned at the site, and said he understood further lots would be released only once “certain criteria were met”.

Munro said there were still two more lots (Lots 8 and 9) owned by TDHL, which were to be “transferred later on this year”, as well as a lot which the developer had the first right of refusal over.

Rogers said Lots 8 and 9, which had a settlement date of October 12, 2023 in the Sale and Purchase Agreement, would only be transferred if the developer “hits the required … contract conditions”.

Piddington also asked what the trigger point was for having the intersection at State Highway 1/Evans St and Grants Rd completed to provide better access to the development, and said “people are telling me it’s a nightmare out there”.

Council group manager infrastructure Andrew Dixon said that requirement was linked to Stage 2, and an extra 3000sqm of the development being completed.

“That is the trigger point to when they have to have the intersection completely built,” he said.

Dixon said the modelling provided by the developer showed the intersection would be able to cope with the number of customers expected for the floor area.

He said the timing of the development of Stage 2 was “unknown”.

The area earmarked for the next stage of the development, expected to house the Lone Star restaurant, remained untouched.

Redwood Group has been contacted for comment.