Malaghans Valley Protection Society

We are a community group dedicated to protecting the natural landscape and rural character of Malaghans Valley from inappropriate development.

‘Coronet Village’ Fast-Track Concerns

Our goal is to ensure that community voices are heard in decisions affecting the valley’s future. We have serious concerns about the Fast-Track process and what proposals such as ‘Coronet Village’ will mean for our area. We need responsible and well-planned development that makes sense. We owe it to future generations and our environment.

Coronet Village isn’t just a gondola, it is a major urban development. This scale and location of development isn’t suitable for Fast-Tracking and our view is that the Queenstown community needs to be a part of the process and forward decision making.

Destroying this rural corridor would be a serious blow to the uniqueness of the Whakatipu Basin closing the urban gap between Arthurs Point and Arrowtown.

What is ‘Coronet Village’?

Included in the application:

  • 780 dwellings up to 16m meters high (5 storeys)

  • A commercial centre

  • A hotel

  • Private primary school and an international private boarding school

  • Mountain bike facilities/hub

  • A gondola to Coronet Peak

  • A restaurant at the summit of Coronet Peak

  • 600-700 car parks.

  • Visible from Malaghans Road, Coronet Peak Road, Coronet Peak Ski Field and Dalefield Hill

Who is behind the Fast-track application?

‘Coronet Village’ has been put forward via the controversial Fast-Track process by Ben Farrell (town planner and sole shareholder in the newly formed “Coronet Village Ltd”) alongside Bernard Cleary, Rod Drury, and others. We understand they currently have the support of Queenstown Mayor Glyn Lewers and National MP Joseph Mooney. However, there has been no local consultation or transparency about the true scale of this project.

Several members of MVPS met with Rod Drury and Jana Davies (Te Tapu o Tāne) regarding the proposal. They voiced their own concerns at the scale of housing proposed but feel their contribution to the proposal (primarily the gondola and rewilding projects) holds value for the community. Unfortunately, the developers are not prepared to separate the Fast Track application meaning that all aspects of the development need to be considered as together as one project. If approved there is essentially nothing locals can do to stop the development going ahead in its entirety.

What are the environmental issues?

This area is zoned by QLDC as ‘Rural’ (minimum subdivisions are 80HA) and is deemed to have a ‘very low capacity to absorb development’. Part of the land is within an Outstanding Natural Landscape and protected by a QE2 Trust covenant. This area doesn’t have sewerage infrastructure or the roading to sustain a development of this size. This area is in the upper catchment for Lake Hayes and two key sediment traps are located in the vicinity of this proposed development. The run-off will be devastating to Lake Hayes and the pressure on the roads would be worsened. In the QLDC District Plan Review hearing, commissioners recommended that land in the Mill Creek catchment needed to be as low density as possible (Rural Amenity Zone) to protect Lake Hayes from further deterioration.

What else concerns us?

There hasn’t been any coverage or discussion about the true scale of this development - it is more than a gondola. The lack of transparency is concerning and a development of this size is not suitable for Fast-Track. We want a transparent process and a full community decision. We need a chance to voice concerns and protect part of what makes our region so beautiful.

We consider there needs to be a discussion on where the community wants urban development to occur, rather than having it forced on the community.

The plans also go against the objectives of QLDC’s Spatial Plan in “that future growth happens in the right place and is supported by the right infrastructure, whether that’s pipes in the ground, ways of getting around, access to schools, healthcare or other community facilities”.

In addition to the environmental issues, we have concerns about the roading which would need to be in place for this development and the traffic that would result from it. There are already major bottlenecks at the Shotover Country roundabout, and the one-lane Edith Cavell bridge already struggles.

The argument around the proposed gondola’s effect on carbon reduction is also currently unsubstantiated and we think it could be considered as a ‘greenwash’ in light of the larger proposal as a whole. There is no evidence that a gondola at the end of Coronet Peak Station Road would reduce vehicle traffic, rather the reality is that it would increase it and concentrate it in a location that is not fit for purpose.

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