Council to reconsider options for mothballed subdivision as a building boom leads to a lack of land in Gore

Thursday, 23 September 2021

The Gore District Council is re-considering options for its mothballed Matai Ridge subdivision, as a building boom leads to a lack of sections in eastern Southland.

The council voted to mothball its 38 section, 3.6ha subdivision in December 2018 after costs blew out, leaving ratepayers with a loan of nearly $750,000 for the project.

Gore district mayor Tracy Hicks said the council was now considering its options for the site in east Gore, but he was unable to give any details on the options being discussed.

“Watch this space.’’

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Last year 46 new stand-alone dwellings were consented in the district, which was the highest yearly figure recorded during the past 20 years.

Like most communities, the district was experiencing a shortage of housing, Hicks said.

“We have lots of people that want to come and live here, but in order for them to do that you have to have somewhere for them to live. We’re having new houses consented because the economic conditions are favourable and the job market is pretty hot – we have more jobs than individuals to fill them.

“Over the last 20 years there has been a lot of renewal with houses being knocked down and replaced, but there is a shortage of land that could be developed as subdivisions and expansion is something the council is looking at,’’ he said.

A report included in the council’s July Infrastructure and Planning Bulletin says the number of consents granted was 11 per cent higher compared to the figures from two years ago, and the dollar value of consented work also showed a 10 per cent increase over the figures from the 2018/19 year.

Last years’ figures were not considered a true indication due to Covid-19 restrictions, the report says.

Builders are now experiencing delays with certain products and fittings as availability is limited in a lot of cases, Paterson says in the report.

“This will continue to delay projects and frustrate trades persons and homeowners who are sometimes having to compromise and source alternative products to enable them to continue with the build,’’ he said.

Gore Master Builders president Paul McHaffie said there was definitely a boom going on in the Gore district.

“I would say the new dairy factory [Mataura Valley Milk] has a lot to do with that, basically we have run out of houses,’’ he said.

The wait to get a builder for a new dwelling was now somewhere between eight months and a year.

“Interest rates are low so that causes that kind of frenzy – building is very do-able at the moment, and people aren’t going overseas, so they’re spending their money on their houses instead, there’s a lot of renovations going on, kitchens and bathrooms, that kind of thing.’’

But sourcing building materials was becoming increasingly difficult, he said.

“It’s going to get worse before it gets better, a lot of supplies come out of factories in Auckland so the longer that stays locked down the worse it's going to get.’’

Gore was also suffering from a lack of land to build on, he said.

A Planning Services Summary that was also included in the council’s July Infrastructure and Planning Bulletin shows that from May 2021 to June 2021, 11 subdivision consents were issued and a further six were on hold.

The Southland District Council also recorded an increase in building consents in the last year.

In the 2020-2021 financial year it issued 1043 building consents, an increase of 11 per cent from the 939 consents issued in the 2018/19 year. Of those, 259 were for stand-alone dwellings for residential use.

Consents issued by Invercargill City Council have also increased after a downwards trend last year.

In 2019, 1552 consents were issued and in 2018, 1313 were issued, but in 2020, 1733 commercial and residential consents were issued.

Nationally, the volume of building activity in New Zealand rose two percent in the June 21 quarter, compared with the March 2021 quarter.

Stats NZ construction statistics manager Michael Heslop said residential building activity drove the increase, rising 4.2 percent in the June 2021 quarter while non-residential building activity fell 1.5 percent.

“The June quarter showed high levels of building activity volume, and follows a 4.1 percent increase in the March quarter,’’ he said.