Christchurch residents challenge ‘planning failure’ behind developer’s looming takeover of narrow street

Saturday, 25 July 2026

An Addington neighbourhood has been told the city council had no choice but to approve a large development of one-bed units which will more than double the number of homes in the suburban cul-de-sac.

The residents of the narrow dead-end Kenilworth St say the Christchurch council’s approval of a 42-unit development without a traffic assessment is an “unacceptable planning failure”.

“We’re not anti-density, we’re anti-corners being cut,” resident Jon Tarr said.

However, council staff say traffic impact assessments are not a legal requirement when resource consents are considered. To change that would take a review of the district plan.

Christchurch-based property developer Tao Homes got council approval for the three-storey project in 2025, despite non-compliance on matters like vehicle access. Thirty of the units will be single-bedroom apartments, with the remainder being studio units. The development will have 30 car parks.

The council has rejected the developers’ multiple requests to turn all, or many, apartments into unhosted short-term rentals. But residents told The Press at a street meeting on Thursday that they weren’t worried about Airbnbs, they were worried about the nuisance and risk to safety that more than doubling the people driving on their narrow street would have.

The development’s address is on Whiteleigh Ave, but the only way future residents will be able to exit the development is via Kenilworth St.

According to the 2025 decision, the council planner believed the lack of space for cars to give way to each other would be less than a minor issue because there were low traffic volumes.

Staff appeared surprised to hear trucks were already accessing the site using a neighbouring property’s driveway. The council confirmed on Friday the developer had not yet lodged a traffic management plan, which was required.

Without council permission, contractors began erecting no parking signs earlier in the morning. One resident said she was threatened with a $150 fine if she kept parking outside her own house.

“The council is failing the residents it is supposed to serve,” she told staff at the street meeting.

The development was approved with 12 fewer car parks than apartments, but much of Kenilworth St was already painted with yellow lines, making car parks scarce for existing residents. Council staff said it was not a legal requirement to have a car park for each unit.

Staff also repeatedly said the development was approved because they had to. For several years, successive governments have insisted on councils like Christchurch’s changing planning rules to make it easier to build taller and more densely.

Under new medium density rules, which the council resisted but approved last year, many land owners in Christchurch are allowed to build three, three storey units per section by right.

It is only when there are non-compliance matters, like building too close to a boundary and threatening sunlight access, that neighbours are notified. Without cause for notification, the council is not allowed to proactively consult residents on consent applications.

“That’s sneaky,” resident Perryn Hiscox said when council staff explained.

In the case of 42-48 Whiteleigh Ave, the only non-compliance issue affected a site owned by Enable Ltd, the city council-owned fibre company. Enable gave written approval for the breach.

Tarr said it sounded like laws were written to permit development at any cost, and described the council’s approval of the development as “an unacceptable planning failure”.

Neighbour Krys Kristufek said getting out of the street was “already a nightmare” in the mornings.

However, residents heard the development was yet to get sign off on its Kenilworth St vehicle crossing. The developer would likely need at least one car park removed to make it happen, which was a community board decision residents could have their say on.

Through the community board, residents could also advocate for street upgrades, which might make things safer, staff said.

The development received resource consent in 2025 with conditions and approved non-compliance matters. Developers paid an average of about $2300 per unit in development contributions, which is funding the council uses for infrastructure upgrades related to growth, such as improving the transport network.

The one-bedroom units were designed with a net floor area of 42.5m², so were undersized by 2.5m², according to the consent decision. However, the council planner said the shape and layout of the apartments meant the shortfall was acceptable.

Tao Homes’ information pack valued the one bedroom apartments at $525,000 and a rental assessment suggested the yield for investors would be as high as $550 a week.

The studio units, advertised for $445,000, met the minimum 35.5m² of net floor area.

The upper-level units were designed without washing lines, but this would be allowed as long as a clothes dryer was provided and residents were allowed to dry their clothes on balconies.

The access points from both streets were not wide or visible enough to be compliant, the decision said, but the issue was managed by making Whiteleigh Ave entry-only and disregarding the risk of vehicles needing to queue for long on Kenilworth St.

After resource consent was approved, the developer tried to get permission to turn all or some apartments into unhosted short-term accommodation, like Airbnb.

A council planner rejected the application, saying it would mean much of the residential development, which sat in a residential zone, would become “more like a motel”.