Te Puawai Director Frustrated With Delays For Housing Project

The Te Puawai housing development for South Invercargill has stalled and resource consent still not approved, almost four years after it started.

The 70ha site on the corner of Tramway and Rockdale Road has been designed for up to 700 new homes, with the intention of giving first time buyers preference.

Te Puawai Developments was set up by the Rosemarie Foundation - a non-profit charitable trust, formerly known as The Christian Charitable Poverty Relief Trust.

Director John Elliott teamed up with businessman Philipp Haas who is still financially backing the development, but now lives in the Bahamas.

The former Wanaka businessman was associated with Matukituki Station and had several other farming connections in the south.

Te Puawai was intended to alleviate some of the housing pressures in the city, but there has been frustration in the community about why it was taking so long.

The Invercargill City Council adopted a private plan change in 2022, to rezone the 70.78ha site of rural land into a residential development.

John said the original design was uneconomic for South Invercargill and a new masterplan for Stage 1 had sections ranging from 400sqm to 700 sqm - including back sections, two-storied duplex townhouses, and cul de sacs to create more a community of its own.

In 2023 the earthworks consent was granted, but there were still outstanding issues relating to stormwater and a land swap regarding reserve land.

Resource consent for stage one, consisting of 35 lots and onsite work was still not approved, and sections were meant to have gone on the market in April this year.

“The reality is, to do a subdivision in South Invercargill you are working with very fine margins in terms of being uneconomic,” he said.

There were also frustrations with council, and John said at a recent meeting with staff, it felt like he was talking about the same issues from two years ago.

“We haven’t walked away from it, but if we keep getting these hurdles, and more costs, it’s marginal and not worth it.”