New 800-home subdivision would create satellite town in North Canterbury

Friday, 25 February 2022

A plan of the Carter Group subdivision proposed for Ohoka in North Canterbury.

A developer wants to create sections for over 2000 residents in a project which would turn a small rural settlement into a satellite town of Christchurch.

The subdivision is proposed for a 156-hectare site at Ohoka in North Canterbury. It would include 800 new houses plus shops, a public square, and a school or retirement village.

Christchurch developer the Carter Group has applied to the Waimakariri District Council to have its rural land rezoned so it can build the subdivision.

Their application comes as debate continues over Christchurch’s growing sprawl.

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Christchurch developer Philip Carter says the consenting process at the Christchurch City Council is broken.

If the application is accepted by the council, it would go through a planning process with an opportunity for public feedback and a hearing before commissioners.

Christchurch City Council and Environment Canterbury (ECan) have objected to several recent land rezoning applications for housing outside the city boundaries, citing concerns including urban sprawl, lack of public transport, added pressure on city roads, and loss of fertile land.

Much of the new housing is going into Selwyn district, with about 12,000 new sections proposed in towns including Rolleston, Lincoln, Prebbleton and West Melton.

A recent report for Christchurch, Waimakariri and Selwyn councils estimated the region would need 80,000 more homes to cope with population growth in the next 30 years.

Ohoka has large houses on lifestyle blocks plus some smaller properties, a domain, community hall, primary school, petrol station and small church. House prices range from about $1.2m to $3.5m.

The Carter site is dairying land bordered by Mill Rd, Bradley's Rd, and Whites Rd.

The subdivision would be called Ohoka Estate, built in stages with most sections between 500sqm and 1000sqm.

Christchurch is short of sites to meet demand for new housing, putting pressure on both city and rural land. (File photo)

Philip Carter, managing director of the Carter Group, said greater Christchurch urgently needed more land and the shortage was pushing up house prices and making homes unaffordable.

“There is not enough capacity to meet the current demand for housing sites,” he said.

Carter said it was important to provide sections in the Waimakariri district.

He said the plan was compatible with national legislation encouraging housing development, and would also provide amenities and give the district an economic boost.

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He said their vision was for a “high-end” development retaining the land’s existing trees and streams and adding walking and cycling tracks.

“The new northern arterial motorway means it is approximately 20 minutes from the centre of Christchurch.”

The plan would include commercial areas with car parking. The smaller site of the two would be on Mill Rd and the larger site on Whites Rd, which would become Ohoka’s village centre. There is also provision for either a school or a retirement village, or about 45 extra homes if neither of those is built.

The Carter Group is a Christchurch developer and investor whose projects have included The Crossing shopping complex in the central city, the Iport industrial park at Rolleston, and a 2000-section subdivision at Lincoln for which they are still awaiting approval.

Waimakariri District Council’s planning policy says development at Ohoka must maintain its “rural village character” of low density housing centred around the existing settlement.

John Baddock, an Ohoka resident for the past 20 years, said it was a “nice little rural area”.

He said it was too early to know what effects the proposed development would have, but he expected it would change the feel of Ohoka.

Baddock said the developers might win over the locals if their project brought in broadband and a sewerage system. “At the moment we’re on copper wire and septic tanks.”

Transport planner Axel Downard-Wilke said allowing urban sprawl away from public transport corridors would create carbon emissions “for decades to come”.

“We should have a regional land use plan in place, combined with a region-wide transport strategy,' he said.

“There’s been years and years and years of talk, and it’s still not in place. It makes it really hard for local authorities to say no [to new subdivisions].”

Downard-Wilke said having three councils plus ECan, and the Greater Christchurch Partnership Committee making decisions, made planning for growth “very, very fragmented”.

Bayleys real estate agent Mark Pringle, who specialises in residential and lifestyle properties in North Canterbury and around Christchurch, said there has been high demand for homes and sections, especially since last year.

“It’s really being driven by people relocating to Canterbury, especially from the North Island. They’re making up a large proportion of our buyers.”

Ohoka had always been a popular location and prices were at record levels, he said.