So far in 2020, Marlborough District Council has received applications for subdivision resource consents enabling 263 residential lots to be built on, representing several years’ worth of new builds for Blenheim.

They include provision for 131 new homes on Alabama Road, 56 at Rose Manor on Old Renwick Road, 40 on Turnbull Drive at the Boulevard on Taylor development, and 15 in South Street. Kainga Ora - Homes and Communities has also applied for resource consent for 30 units.

Council Chief Executive Mark Wheeler says the Council will continue to work with landowners and developers to provide support to assist the progress of the larger developments.

“We will work alongside developers to ensure the required services, such as sewer, water, stormwater and roading, can be constructed to enable these lots to be available as soon as possible.”

The Proposed Marlborough Environment Plan (PMEP) decisions document was released last Thursday, bringing together the region's major management plans into a single document. More than 1,300 submissions were made on the plan and submitters made 386 appearances over 54 days of hearings.

Included in the decisions was new residential zoning and in total there is estimated to be sufficient land for the next 26 years of housing demand.

“Not all landowners will want to develop or sell immediately but we are aware of some who do. The high consent application numbers so far this year confirm that.”

In 2019, Council granted a total of 20 urban subdivisions, creating 39 additional residential allotments. Ten of those were at Rose Manor and 29 were infill.

The PMEP decision document is now subject to an appeal process and the Council is unable to comment on the decisions made by the Hearings Panel.

Clarification: The Hearings Panel’s decision is that lot sizes should be decreased from 450m2 to 400m2 in Urban Residential Zone 2, and remain at 290m2 in Urban Residential Zone 1. Today’s Marlborough Express story was incorrect – the surveyor’s submission has been given effect to.

All the PMEP tracked changes files, including the new zoning maps, are expected to be finalised by the end of tomorrow, Tuesday 25 February, and uploaded to the Council website.

Submitters may appeal the decisions to the Environment Court by Friday 3 April 2020. Further information can be found at https://www.marlborough.govt.nz/your-council/resource-management-policy-and-plans/proposed-marlborough-environment-plan/decisions-on-the-pmep

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