Jopp Street land in Arrowtown has been approved for a change of use to enable much-needed affordable housing in the district.

In a letter to QLDC Mayor Jim Boult, the Hon. Nanaia Mahuta, Minister for Local Government has approved the change of land use for the 3.68 hectare site from ‘public utility’ to ‘affordable housing’.

Mayor Boult said he was delighted with the outcome as this was the result of collective efforts to provide more affordable housing for the local community.

“It’s great to see the recognition from Central Government of the collaboration between this Council and the Queenstown Lakes Community Housing Trust. Since coming to office in 2016, delivering more affordable housing solutions has been a personal passion of mine and a commitment from QLDC and my fellow elected members. This is another really positive step in delivering on those commitments and I thank the Minister for helping us toward achieving this ambitious goal,” said Mayor Boult.

In April 2019, the Council agreed to transfer the land to the Trust for the purpose of affordable housing. The site is proposed to provide a mixture of affordable rentals (including an allocation for elderly housing) and Secure Home properties. The Secure Homes programme was one outcome of Mayor Boult’s Affordable Housing Taskforce set up in 2016, providing long-term stability in a quality home in the same way as traditional home ownership does.

QLCHT Chair, Andrew Blair, expressed the Trust’s appreciation for the Government signing off this land transfer. “We are advancing well with a masterplan and house concepts for this development, so receiving confirmation of support from the Government is very timely. We look forward to receiving the land and commencing with civil works later this year”.

With approval having been granted by the Minister, Council will progress with the land transfer to the Trust to hold for the purpose of affordable housing in Arrowtown in perpetuity. This will be followed by normal resource consenting processes.

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