Does he accept Queenstown Lakes District Council's claim that its Proposed District Plan and Spatial Plan will provide capacity for approximately 108,000 additional homes compared with projected demand of around 24,000 homes over the next 30 years?

Answer

Queenstown Lakes District Council's own evidence highlights an ongoing development capacity challenge. In December 2025, Queenstown Lakes District Council and Otago Regional Council wrote to the Minister for the Environment to advise that their Housing and Business Capacity Assessment 2025 (HBA) had identified insufficient development capacity. The letter noted a projected shortfall of around 1,000 dwellings in the short term, driven by infrastructure constraints in the Whakatipu Ward, and shortages of business land, in the short term, with deficits persisting into the medium and long term for retail, commercial and industrial land. While the HBA identified a larger amount of technically enabled capacity, the councils noted that only around 30,000 dwellings were "reasonably expected to be realised" in the long term. Population projections, such as Queenstown Lakes District Council's estimate that 24,000 additional homes will be required over the next 30 years, are a useful indicator of the level of capacity that should be enabled. However, they are only one measure and can be less reliable in smaller districts with highly migration-driven population growth.