School site now set for state housing

THE first official hint about a housing project on the former site of Queenstown’s high school has been dropped.

Land Information New Zealand has confirmed the old Wakatipu High School site in Gorge Rd/Fryer St will be used for ‘‘state housing’’.

Deputy Crown property chief executive Jerome Sheppard said the site ‘‘transferred to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development on November 1, 2018, for state housing purposes’’.

The ministry would not elaborate when contacted this week.

A spokesperson said the Government was working alongside local stakeholders on plans for the future of the site.

‘‘An announcement will be made once the plans are finalised.’’

In 2016, Mountain Scene revealed Housing NZ owned only nine properties in Queenstown and had an exit strategy from the resort, due to low demand and low unemployment.

Mr Sheppard’s comments could be a nod to the Government’s KiwiBuild project, which aims to deliver 100,000 homes nationally over the next decade by supporting developers.

Mr Sheppard recently confirmed the sale of the fourhectare site, which had been empty since the move to a new campus at Remarkables Park at the start of the year.

It entered the disposal process on April 3.