Housing project on fast track

A new subdivision in southeast Blenheim could have houses for sale by the end of the year, while a southwest vineyard rezoned residential might not be the silver bullet house-hunters had hoped for.

A 12-hectare property beside Vets on Alabama has been bought from the Mcgregors by Nikau Drive Ltd, which last week filed for consent to subdivide it into 131 sections.

Nikau Drive director Phil Robinson said he had been interested in the block for a while as a natural extension of Nikau Drive off Redwood St, but the main entrance would be on Alabama Rd.

‘‘It’s a nice area, it’s close to facilities and will connect to the main arterial routes. It is well located, and we’re very happy,’’ Robinson said.

The sections would be a mix of small and larger sections, released over five stages, although he doubted anyone would be building one-bedroom houses, he said.

‘‘You’d need more than a subdivision to meet that demand. You’d need to plan a whole development to get houses that small . . . it’s something for other developers to consider.’’

Robinson was no stranger to subdivisions, having worked on several residential projects including, most recently, Blackwood Place at Westwood.

‘‘Anecdotally I am aware of a housing shortage, I know the house building companies have been concerned and I guess the timing of that fits with what we’re doing.’’

Part of the site was assessed as having flood risk, but earthworks would be carried out to mitigate that.

After consent was granted there would be a tender for construction, and Robinson said he was hopeful that early stages would be built by the end of the year.

‘‘We are pushing as hard as we can to get there.’’

A 30ha block off Battys Rd and New Renwick Rd, behind where Burleigh Gourmet Pies used to be, had been rezoned residential in the final copy of the Proposed Marlborough Environment Plan released last week.

However the Marris Family Trust, which owns the property, did not have any consents lodged to develop the land, currently planted in grapevines.

Speaking on behalf of the trust, Donna Marris said despite asking the council to rezone the land, potentially allowing for up to 367 lots, the family had not decided whether to develop it or not.

‘‘We don’t have any immediate plans. But that’s not to say it won’t happen at some point. It has given us the option, which is great, and as a family we will need to discuss that.’’

Since the rezoning request, the popular Burleigh bakery had moved from the corner to a New Renwick Rd site closer to Taylor River Reserve, and discussions had begun about whether to install a roundabout at the tight intersection.

Council chief executive Mark Wheeler said that so far this year, the council had received subdivision resource consent applications for 263 residential lots to be built on, representing several years’ worth of new builds for Blenheim.

Alongside the Nikau Drive development, there were 56 consents filed for Rose Manor on Old Renwick Rd, 40 on Turnbull Drive at Boulevard Park on Taylor, and a railwayside section on South St was to be subdivided into 15 sections.

‘‘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,’’ Wheeler said.