Hon Dr Nick Smith
Minister for Building and Housing

9 December 2015 Media Statement
More special housing areas for Wellington

Building and Housing Minister Dr Nick Smith and Wellington Mayor Celia Wade-Brown today announced three new Special Housing Areas across Wellington.

“The three new SHAs cover around eight hectares of currently underused land in Shelly Bay, Newlands and Newtown and together with the existing Shelly Bay SHA, will provide more than 330 new homes. These additions bring the total SHAs in Wellington to 24, with a total combined capacity of around 2,750 houses,” says Dr Smith.

“The new Shelly Bay SHA doubles the size of the SHA site established in July. The yield will jump from 150 to 300 houses, with a mix of both residential and commercial development. The Shelly Bay development will now include the wharf, which may allow for its redevelopment for ferry services to Wellington’s CBD in the future.”

Wellington Mayor Celia Wade-Brown welcomed the announcement. “The accord has focussed Council on identifying barriers to getting new housing consented and built. The Shelly Bay development site is in one of the most beautiful places in the region and will be a great place to live, work and play. Enough housing will help the case for a ferry between Shelly Bay and Queens Wharf.”

The new Special Housing Areas announced today are:
• Shelly Bay: 7.32 hectares, 300 homes altogether
• Glanmire Road, Newlands: 0.18 hectares, 15 homes
• Mein Street Newtown: 0.63 hectares, 15 homes

The Special Housing Areas have been recommended by Wellington Council and approved by Cabinet. Applications for subdivisions will then be able to be considered by Council under the fast-tracked mechanisms in the legislation, which requires approvals within six months for greenfields developments, compared to the current average of three years, and three months for brownfield developments, compared to the current average of one year.

Further information on the Wellington Housing Accord is available from: http://wellington.govt.nz/your-council/plans-policies-and-bylaws/policies/housing-accord

ends

© Scoop Media