$7.8m Infrastructure Funding for Kaikōura
$7,800,000 for Kaikōura from Kāinga Ora’s Infrastructure Acceleration Fund was announced today (21 July) by Housing Minister Dr Megan Wood. It will fund Council infrastructure that will support over 400 potential new homes for Kaikōura, including housing for the elderly and those on low-medium incomes.
The Infrastructure Acceleration Fund is a key component of the Government’s $3.8 billion Housing Acceleration Fund announced in March 2021. It’s aim is to provide funding for infrastructure such as transport, three waters and flood management that will enable new housing development in areas of need.
The proposed infrastructure projects enable new houses across two different sites – Vicarage Views, a new subdivision located on the former NCTiR village site adjacent to Ludstone Road, and an expansion of the Ocean Ridge subdivision. These will require a resource consent to be granted to the developer for Vicarage Views, and a plan change for the latter stage of the Ocean Ridge expansion.
Planned for the first phase of the project are a footpath connecting Vicarage Views to schools on Ludstone Road and the town centre, and the initial stages of a cycleway path connecting Ludstone Road via Green Lane to Ocean Ridge.
Green Lane, currently unsealed, will then be upgraded and sealed all the way to Ocean Ridge, including a new rail crossing, together with the extension of the cycle/pathway all the way along its length.
The infrastructure upgrades are proposed to begin in 2022/23 with the first IAF-enabled houses planned to be delivered in 2023-24. Stage one, if resource consents for Vicarage Views are obtained, includes 43 modern homes within the First Home Grant House Price Cap, 20 of which are stand-alone Elderly People Houses. There will be 83 sections in total in Vicarage Views.
Kaikōura District Council Mayor Craig Mackle said, “This is a great result for Kaikōura. We have a critical gap in modern, low to medium income housing and elderly housing units that we need to urgently address. The funding from the IAF is a potential game changer to help address this need within our housing stock - both now and into the future. If the Vicarage Views resource consent goes through, the subdivision and the Council infrastructure can start this year.”
Mayor Mackle said, “The new roading, footpaths and cycleways are very exciting as they will provide connectivity between the two subdivisions and with the town. For kids living in Ocean Ridge it will provide a safer and healthier route to school that no longer involves State Highway 1. It also has the potential to change how we get around Kaikōura for the better.”
Mayor Mackle is also “full of praise for the commitment Mr Robertson has shown to Kaikōura to create this much needed housing and is proud of the hard work and co-operation by Council staff, working with Garry Robertson and his team to put this together.”
When the fund was announced Kaikōura District Council was already working with Garry Robertson, the developer of Ocean Ridge, on aspects of Vicarage Views. Working together with Mr Robertson and his team Council was able to submit a strong application for funding for the “Kaikōura Western Developments” project which has proven successful.
Later stages of the project will involve river protection works and an upgrade to Council Three-waters infrastructure that will enable additional homes in the Ocean Ridge subdivision, including more homes within the First Grant House Price Cap.
