New NIMBYs

We're all used to standard NIMBYs. 

But now the Ministry of Education and NZTA have gotten into the game.

Fulton Hogan wants to turn an end-of-life quarry into a new development.

Well, that just doesn't fit the plan.

Early plans had shown more than 500 residential sections would be in the development and there would be space for shops and a restaurant/bar.

Waka Kotahi said in its submission it considered the proposed location of the site was quite remote from the existing main urban environments within the Central Otago district.

The Waka Kotahi submission said the subdivision would be about 10km from Cromwell, 40km from Alexandra and 45km from Wānaka and, since there was no public transport, heavy reliance on the use of private vehicles was expected.

It also said the proposed development was outside the future growth areas identified in the Cromwell spatial plan.

The area was not identified for future residential zoning recently notified in plan change 19 of the Central Otago district plan. The spatial plans were developed to manage urban growth in a manner that promotes an accessible walking and cycling town.

It also highlighted further consideration had to be made for carbon emissions and potential climate change effects for the future development.

It said the development of the site was unlikely to result in a significant uptake of active transport modes such as walking and cycling nor a reduction in a reliance on private vehicle trips. There was no provisions made for public transport.

...

In its submission, the Ministry of Education said the proposal would place pressure on schools in Cromwell with an influx of people coming into the region.

“The boost in dwellings constitute a sudden large addition to the number of total dwellings and total rating units, at a scale and pace that is larger than projected numbers. This growth is at a faster rate than that anticipated by the Ministry of Education,” it said.

Nothing can be allowed to grow faster or slower than the Ministry of Education projected. 

And even though transport emissions are fully covered in the ETS so residents of car-dependent places will have to pay for their own emissions, NZTA doesn't want to let it happen. 

What a mess.