Developers let rip over council’s brake on city growth

Wednesday, 9 April 2025

Stark Property director Matt Stark was amongst local developers expressing strong concerns over wastewater-related development constraints in large parts of the city, including Hamilton East where his multi-million dollar MADE market is based.

Developers are questioning whether they want to invest in Hamilton as they let rip at councillors over wastewater related planning brakes that have kyboshed at least 750 projects worth tens of millions.

Matt Stark, who was behind the $25m-$30million MADE market project in Hamilton East, told councillors it was intended to be a catalyst for growth but the halt on new builds due to over capacity pipes had stifled that expected flow-on.

“We’re in the situation now where we’re probably not going to see growth significantly in that Hamilton East region for probably…who knows?

“What it’s done is spook the horses because we don’t have confidence in this place.”

He questioned whether the current council had “the right people on the bus” to govern.

“We’re questioning do we want to invest more in this city,” said Stark.

The comments from Stark and others- responding to a major wastewater report and a chairperson’s commentary raising significant related issues - came at Tuesday’s strategic growth and district plan committee meeting.

Assured Property’s John Kenel said he’s stopped building in Hamilton because he’s lost trust in the council.

The discussion comes after a large swathe of the city - in the south-west, the south-east (including parts of Hamilton East), and pockets of St Andrews, Rototuna and Nawton - started facing restrictions two years ago.

Assured Property’s John Kenel said he’d stopped building in Hamilton “because I’ve lost trust in this council”.

He criticised how “with zero warning access to wastewater infrastructure has simply been turned off” in affected areas.

“No heads up, no communications, no solutions offered.”

Leon Da-Silva of Da-Silva Builders wanted developers and the council to work closer together to meet the wastewater-related challenges.

Kenel said wastewater problems were the result of a complete lack of infrastructure planning and a no willingness to work with experienced developers.

“I have been paying development contributions and rates to this city for 21 years. Why was that money not reinvested in core infrastructure?”

Leon Da-Silva from Da-Silva Builders had heard significant capacity fixes were due to be in place in six years - he wanted to work closely with the city on interim arrangements.

Grafraell Enterprises developer Grayson Bell talked of using local off-peak discharge tanks to lighten the load on the main wastewater system.

“I’m asking council to work with us like other city councils are doing in the next six years so we can keep developing in Hamilton East and where people want to buy houses.”

He was concerned at a council model, which led to restrictions based on projected problems when his staff said the model had things wrong and they could offer solutions.

“We’ll do the work and pay for it because we can find cheaper ways because we’re incentivised.”

Foster director Leonard Gardner also spoke at the hui, saying that maintaining city growth and solutions were needed.

Grafraell Enterprises developer Grayson Bell suggested wider use of local discharge tanks that could collect wastewater and download it to the main system in off-peak times, as ocurred in Christchurch.

“It’s a simple effective solution” to main system capacity constraints, he said.

Surveyor Dan MacDaid, from Landform Surveys, said he was frustrated at the council’s past unwillingness to look closer at such tanks.

“It’s all about trying to reduce the peak flow.”

Strategic growth and district plan committee chairperson Sarah Thomson queried the history that led to so many areas being constrained at once in 2023.

Foster director Leonard Gardner said there could be a tension between complying with wastewater related rules, having capacity to grow in future and the need for Hamilton to grow right now.

“Growth is a really important part of our city” and the city needed to look closer at enabling current “here and now” growth rather than trying to preserve capacity for the future “just in case”.

The council’s strategic waters technical director Jackie Colliar told the meeting developers’ feedback “certainly highlighted to us the need for us to maybe adjust our approach in how we work with the development community”.

Work was already underway on that.

The Hamilton treatment plant on Pukete Rd is an integral part of the city’s wastewater management system.

Growth funding and analytics manager Greg Carstens acknowledged if the 750 inquiries about developments in affected areas had led to actual projects this could have added up to $15 million to local gross domestic product.

Committee chairperson Sarah Thomson asked why the council had needed to introduce restrictions in so many areas at once in 2023.

Colliar said capacity constraints had been known about for years but the council’s new district plan change 12 and regulatory pressures on wastewater spills led to more action.

“It’s currently prohibited for network overflows to occur.”

Some $1 billion is set aside in the city’s ten year plan for wastewater improvements, with addressing areas with the high-risk network problems part of planned upgrades.

But the staff report said areas with constraints are either not prioritised for investment or that funded projects needed to resolve capacity issues will take several years.

Meanwhile, councillors unanimously agreed to measures to ramp up the depth of information they have.

This included detail on how much the ten year plan spend and investment by a proposed waters council controlled organisation (CCO) with Waikato district would enhance wastewater capacity.

Options were also requested for councillors to re-consider the risk settings for network capacity and performance so as to balance risks with housing and economic outcomes.