Fast track bill: An ‘explosive’ Rolleston expansion, NZ’s largest solar farm make the list

Monday, 7 October 2024

Rolleston’s population could rise by almost half under the Government’s list of “fast-track” projects, overriding years of Selwyn District Council’s efforts to block “explosive” growth.

It could also speed up construction on a new Ashburton bridge and see Aotearoa’s largest solar farm built next to the home of one of the world’s rarest birds.

The list, released on Sunday, includes 149 projects which Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop and Regional Development Minister Shane Jones said would help rebuild the economy, fix the housing crisis, improve energy security and close the infrastructure deficit.

The projects span the length of the country - about a third are in the South Island, with 22 in Canterbury - and will form part of the Government’s controversial Fast Track Approvals Bill, designed to accelerate resource consents and get big projects built quicker.

Some 8385 more homes could be built in Greater Christchurch if the projects are approved - 4727 in the Selwyn district, 3130 in the Waimakariri and 528 in Christchurch.

Over 5000 of those homes would be developed by the Carter Group, and be against the wishes of the Selwyn and Waimakariri district councils.

Selwyn District Council has rejected the Carter Group’s attempts to develop four blocks in Rolleston West in recent years.

If approved, there would be 4200 more homes built across four new suburbs.

That would see more than 12,00 new residents fast-tracked into what is already the fastest growing town in New Zealand, based on Selwyn’s average household count of 2.9 people.

That would represent a 41% increase to Rolleston’s population, which was estimated at 29,600 in 2023, not including other development already under way.

Selwyn councillor Sophie McInnes, a representative for Rolleston, said locals often expressed concern about the town’s “explosive growth”.

“Think about how many schools we would need,” she said, referring to the fact that Rolleston College was at capacity with 1800 students and has a projected roll of 3000 by 2030, but the Government has delayed building a second campus.

Timaru, which has a comparable population, has five secondary schools which run to Year 13.

McInnes said people want Rolleston to catch up to its own population - for the local economy to grow and offer local jobs, so new developments don’t become “dormitory suburbs” for Christchurch.

Carter Group’s Ōhoka subdivision project of 850 houses and a commercial centre - which was rejected by independent commissioners and the Waimakariri District Council out of concern for unsustainable growth - is also on the fast-track list.

Unlike the Rolleston plan, the Waimakariri one proposes to build a school and/or retirement home.

Tim Carter, of Carter Group, said the group was “delighted” its projects were included.

The company’s planned 55.5h industrial development at Ryans Rd next to Christchurch Airport also made the list.

The fast-track list also offered a swag of new or expanded renewable energy projects across Aotearoa, five of which are in Canterbury.

Four were for solar energy farms, including Far North Solar Farm Ltd’s The Point Solar Farm project in the Mackenzie Basin, near Lake Benmore.

At 670 hectares it could be the largest solar farm in the country, but the plan has been met with opposition or requests for extensive controls.

Colin O’Donnell, a Department of Conservation (DOC) principal scientist, wrote a 13-page report outlining the solar farm’s potential threat, describing it as “potentially catastrophic” to the long-term viability of kakī - which only has 169 wild adult birds - and other rare birds.

The projects were selected from a list of over 342 applications, picked by an expert advisory panel.

Once the bill becomes law, the projects listed can apply to the Environment Protection Authority. An expert panel will assess each project and apply any relevant environmental protections.

If all went ahead, it could represent tens of billions of dollars of investment across the country.

Jones said the application process was “thorough and robust”, run by the Ministry for the Environment, and included input by officials and an independent advisory group. The final list was decided by Cabinet.

In August, after months of public outcry about the bill, including protests, the Government got rid of its plan to let three ministers approve projects - or even disagree with a panel’s proposed safeguards - and recommended that an expert panel gets final approval.

The list will not be without controversy or its detractors.

It includes 19 mining and quarrying projects, allowing for the expansion of existing mines and new work.

On the West Coast, the Fast Track Bill allows an expansion of the existing mining site on the Buller Coal Plateaux and supporting and extending current Stockton mine operations (Bathurst Resources/BT Mining/Buller Coal/Bathurst Coal).

TiGa Minerals and Metals’ TiGa Minerals and Metals’ open cast sand mineral mine at Barrytown near Greymouth made the list, but has already received the green light after an Environment Court resolution.

It also revives a controversial Westpower hydropower scheme on the Waitaha River in Westland, scrapped by the last Government, which would generate enough electricity to power about 12,000 households.

The Fast Track Bill housing projects alone, if all consented and built, would add 55,000 houses to the housing stock.

The infrastructure projects would add at least 90 kilometres of new highway and 70km of new rail and busway capacity.