Number of houses in proposed Special Housing Area in Ngongotahā slashed

The number of houses to be built in a Special Housing Area, if approved, has been slashed by about 100 lots.

An item on the agenda of a Rotorua Lakes Council Operations and Monitoring Committee meeting provided an update on the proposed special housing area at 31 Ngongotaha Rd.

Initial plans for the 16ha site included 190 dwellings but the agenda said it was anticipated up to 80 lots would be created within the proposed SHA.

Developer Martin Schilt is aiming to expedite the development under the Special Housing Areas Act which will expire in September. He filed the application on April 30.

The SHA process was expected to take three months but there were delays following flooding in Ngongotahā which meant the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development asked the developer to get extra reports on stormwater and flooding.

The exact number of lots to go on the site will be determined at the consent stage when more detailed assessments will be done.

Developer Martin Schilt at the site he hopes will be Rotorua's first Special Housing Area. Photo / File

"The assessment needs to show that a low natural hazard risk will be achieved on the site after the completion of development," the agenda said.

Schilt told the Rotorua Daily Post he was now hoping for between 80 and 100 lots. He said the reason for the reduction was simply time-constraints.

With the Special Housing Act being repealed in September, Schilt raced to get the application in by April and didn't have time to do more work on flooding so only applied to build on the eastern side of a stream running through the property.

"Where it flooded on the other side, we will never build. There's a possibility we can build but we'd have to do a lot more work."

Schilt said he was continuing to work with local iwi and MPs around the proposal.

If approved by the minister, the council and the Resource Management Act Committee would need to consider the SHA and have the final say on if it was approved.

Launching the new development in Ngongotaha in March 2018 are Sabre Construction construction manager Piet Holwerda, Rotorua MP Todd McClay and land owner Martin Schilt. Photo / File

The council's operations group manager, Henry Weston, brought up the Special Housing Area at the committee meeting this week and told committee members the application was with the minister's office.

Committee chairman Charles Sturt noticed the reduction in the number of lots.

"I notice in the application that in view of what happened in April they've reduced the number of lots. Obviously there were some issues in terms of ground stability and where they could build these houses so is that the case?"

Weston said that was "fundamentally the reason" the application had been referred back to the applicant the first time.

If given the green light it will become the first special housing area under Rotorua's Special Housing Accord, and likely the only one given the act's expiry.