More land to cool house prices
Waipa is struggling to keep up with demand for property, putting pressure on the district council to make more land available.
Waipa mayor Jim Mylchreest put the heat on his staff at a recent meeting of the Strategic Planning and Policy Committee.
He wants to speed up the process to unlock new development areas around Cambridge, to capitalise on its current growth spurt.
‘‘The demand for housing in Auckland and Hamilton is settling down but demand for property in the Waipa hasn’t,’’ he said.
‘‘What we are seeing in Waipa, is land prices being pushed up because of the shortages of sections on the market.’’
Mylchreest believed if there was more land available, it would help reduce market prices for property.
The council’s planning and regulatory manager Wayne Allan told the committee, the district’s growth strategy currently under review needed to be updated because of housing demands.
‘‘Council, aware of the demands, is trying to stay ahead of growth,’’ said Allan.
The council was talking with landowners about acquisition of industrial and residential land.
But Allan said the process would ‘‘not be quick and we have to get it right’’. He advised the committee not to ‘‘open too many fronts [developments] as it becomes a burden on ratepayers’’.
Mylchreest, not unsatisfied, said he wanted to ‘‘see expediency to the process’’ as it would be three to four years before new sections were available, if the council kept on its current trajectory.
Mylchreest also said he was worried the annual plan, under review, did not allow for population growth.
The council’s consultation processes also came under scrutiny.
Changes meant councils did not have to consult the public on its annual plan, if it did not differ from its 10-year plan, which was reviewed every three years.
Waipa councillors Hazel Barnes and Vern Wilson described their council’s decision not to engage the public on the annual plan as the ‘‘abandonment of public consultation’’.
But council staff assured ratepayers would still able to offer submissions either through council’s website or informally.
Mylchreest wanted to hear from anyone who had plans for the Waipa which would have an impact on rates.