Waimakariri rejects Carter Group’s Ōhoka subdivision plans - again
Tuesday, 24 June 2025
For the second time in two years Wamakariri District Council has blocked the Carter Group’s subdivision proposal for Ōhoka, but land for 17,000 other homes is one step closer to being used.
Councillors have met to finalise a proposed District Plan - coming in at 2500 pages.
The Carters - one of Christchurch’s largest property developers - did not make the cut, with the council blocking a proposed 850-home project in Ōhoka following recent advice from an independent hearings panel.
In 2023 the council rejected a previous attempt by The Carter Group to rezone the land.
As the council continues to modernise its rulebook for future growth, two decades of work has gone into the plan.
It received 725 submissions, more than 900 pieces of evidence and dedicated 35 days to hearings.
The document’s focus is the impending growth boom around its current main centres, such as Rangiora, Kaiapoi, Oxford and Woodend.
Carter Group requested 156 hectares in Ōhoka between Mill, Bradleys and Whites roads be rezoned from lifestyle blocks to a range of section sizes for its proposed Ohoka Estates subdivision.
In addition to 850 homes, it would have two shopping centres, a public square, and space for a school or retirement village.
The development has been the subject of outrage from some local residents who say the infrastructure to support the subdivision is inadequate and building would flood surrounding properties due to a high water table.
On Tuesday the council accepted all of the independent hearing panel’s recommendations for the proposed district plan, including again rejecting the Carter Group project.
In its recommendations the panel said: “It has not been demonstrated that there is a specific demand for housing in this particular location of the district.”
Mayor Dan Gordon said it was a “momentous day”.
“If things go as we are seeing there will be between 14,000 to 17,000 new dwellings over the next 20 years, that’s pretty impressive.”
Gordon said the population of the district was expected to reach higher than 100,000 people in the next two decades, but the homes for the lion’s share of those people would be built in appropriate locations surrounding established towns, not in rural communities like the Ōhoka proposal.
“Other than the person selling the land I haven’t met anyone in favour of seeing that style of development in our district.”
However, the Carter Group could still bypass the council.
An appeal to the council's previous decision was still going through the Environment Court, and its development was chosen by the Government under the Fast Track Approvals process, which could see the it approved without consultation with the community.
Secretary of the Ōhoka Residents Association Angela Low said the recommendations of two independent panels showed the community were not “nimbys” who did not want development.
“It’s pretty hard to argue when two different sets of independent, professional experts come to the same conclusion.”
While it was another positive result for the community, the risk of the decision being overturned by the Fast Track Approvals Act or Housing Minister Chris Bishop after receiving powers last week to override council decisions was concerning, she said.
“We’ve just jumped two hurdles and now we’re getting ready for a third which we thought was the Fast Track - and now we’re thinking the fourth might be the Minister.”
Philip Carter from the Carter Group said, “We have only just received the decision, and we will now take time to read it in full and consider our options.”