Housing has been a very hot topic in recent times with both central and local government coming under increasing scrutiny about what they are doing to help alleviate pressure on the availability of accommodation. Government has sent a very clear message to Councils that they are to focus on freeing up more land for housing.
The Marlborough District Council has recently re-zoned land that is projected to cater for residential growth over the next 30 years.
Council needs to explore some next steps however.
The Council has understandably to date taken a prudent approach to the development of its own subdivision in Taylor Pass Road. A staged development in keeping with what commercial developers would do. It is now time however for serious consideration to be given to acceleration of the development. We hear repeatedly that opportunity for new home construction is being missed because of a lack of quality sections. This needs to be dealt with especially when some of those considering building are people from outside our region. With up to 90 sections still able to be developed in Taylor Pass beyond Stage 4 the Council is able to have a very direct influence over section availability and therefore housing availability, unlike most other Councils in the country. The opportunity is there for the new Council.
The speeding up of the Council’s own subdivision and it’s exiting of land development will also see Council take its rightful place of regulator and enabler rather than regulator, enabler, and market participant. While the Council is quite right to extract maximum value from land that was purchased by it several decades ago it is also appropriate that it work actively to be in a position more in line with community expectations.
As part of its housing focus Council could also be setting a target for the number of new sections it wants to see come to the market each year. This would maintain a real urgency in working with developers to see subdivisions completed. Certainly while housing demand remains so strong.
The Council could also be better connected to the needs of the overall housing market. Appointing one or two Councillors to a housing portfolio with their brief being to get the best out of Council in dealing with the accommodation needs of the region. Nationally we have three Ministers dealing with housing. Locally we could do with some over-arching focus.