NZX-listed developer Winton Land got its planned 4000-home Sunfield housing estate in South Auckland into the new fast-track law, which chief executive Chris Meehan has welcomed.
But he stressed being in that Fast-track Approvals Act programme does not mean work on the first stages is imminent: “It is great to get to this point. Physical works won’t start until we have final approval in hand for resource consent under the fast-track process”.
The Ministry for the Environment’s list of approved projects showed Sunfield, at Ardmore, is one of 149 projects in the new law passed in December, out of 384 that applied.
Meehan said more steps required but the market had changed.
“Construction prices are still to adjust to the current property cycle and remain high, hence the decision to pause Northbrook Wynyard Quarter and Northbrook Launch Bay,” he said, referring to the company announcement in December that people who bought apartments in the $750 million project could get refunds.
Civil works prices have regressed substantially.
“Therefore Winton is comfortable proceeding with Sunfield and other green-fields projects at this time,” he said.
The company is continuing Arrowtown and Wānaka retirement village projects but not in Auckland.
People who put deposits on Northbrook Wynyard Quarter were also offered the chance to stay in at the current prices for homes to be built on Beaumont St, opposite Orams Marine.
Piling work is continuing, but construction has been delayed.
Meehan referred to some prices dropping for work on the planned Sunfield project in South Auckland.
“Civil works prices have decreased substantially,” he said.
Sunfield is to be:
In the residential areas, Winton proposes to have little parking. No dwellings will have parking spaces and communal and visitor parking will only be provided at a ratio of one space for every 10 dwellings.
Documents lodged on the ministry’s website showed many titles to the land where Sunfield will be, and many different owners.
Some of the owners are Roberts Holdings and Hamlin Holdings, with caveats by Ardmore Developments and mortgages to ASB Bank.
Another title is owned by Pak Kwong Lam and Shiu Ling Lam, with a mortgage to the Housing Corporation. Another 3ha lot is owned by Pre-Con Pty, while an 8.6ha lot is owned by Huashi Li, a 4ha lot is owned by MC Investments (NZ), and another is owned by Robert Thomas Wright.
Winton’s application said the 244.5ha where Sunfield is planned has:
In his cover letter on the project, also on the ministry’s site, Meehan wrote that Winton Group is 45 executives based in Auckland, Queenstown and Wānaka, and its residential land development portfolio comprises residential dwellings, apartments and retirement village units at 26 large-scale projects.
Sunfield would have a total economic benefit of $4.7b to the Auckland region, he wrote.
The site is 2km from the Papakura train station, 12km from Manukau city centre and 20km from Auckland CBD.
Richard Hills, an Auckland councillor, told RNZ he questioned Sunfield’s inclusion in the new act, saying it is on a floodplain and could put future residents in harm’s way. Hills said last October that while more housing was “really important” for Auckland, it was frustrating the council had no say on projects that went through the fast-track process.
Part of the Sunfield site was slated for future urban development, with flood mitigation plans already in place, but part of it was zoned rural on a floodplain with no infrastructure solution, Hills said.
But Winton has expressed confidence it can mitigate flood risks through stormwater works.
A Winton document on the ministry’s site says: “Sunfield is subject to a flood plain and numerous overland flow paths. These and the mitigation methods are described in more detail within the Sunfield Three Waters Strategy Report prepared by Maven Associates.”
It proposes extensions of the Awakeri Westlands up to 2m deep, the creation of stormwater swales and a wetland.
Winton also owns the new $200m upmarket hospitality precinct Ayrburn outside Arrowtown.
It reported interim results last month where revenue fell 5% to $81.1m in the half-year to December 31, 2024 and last year’s $9.7m profit turned into a net loss after tax of $2m.
Meehan referred to the struggling economic environment and a year of lower product delivery in Winton’s residential development arm and said the economic downturn had been more severe and prolonged than expected.
“A change in Government was anticipated to be a catalyst to get the economy moving again and out of recession. However, it is taking more time than was generally expected,” he said.
In 2022, the Herald reported Winton was suing the Crown housing agency Kāinga Ora, accusing it of anti-competitive conduct after a refusal in November 2021 to consider Sunfield for assessment as a “Specified Development Project” (SDP).
The SDP designation is designed to help streamline complex urban development projects.
Asked about that litigation after Sunfield secured one of the 149 places in the new Fast-track Approvals Act, Meehan said: “As you would expect, we are unable to comment on the legal proceedings.”
Anne Gibson has been the Herald’s property editor for 25 years, written books and covered property extensively here and overseas.
The mānuka honey company has cut staff by around 70 to save money and reduce debt.