Former local mayor Warren Cooper says a council proposal to allow 24m-high buildings across a swathe of Queenstown\u2019s CBD is \u2018\u2018absolute lunacy\u2019\u2019.<\/p>\n
The council is proposing the height limit \u2014 twice what is currently allowable \u2014 in response to a government directive to provide more height and density in certain locations.<\/p>\n
The 24m limit would apply to certain blocks adjacent to Shotover and Stanley Sts.<\/p>\n
Cooper, who owns a 12m-high CBD building himself, says the current limit leads to \u2018\u2018a feeling of comfortableness, as you walk around, rather than intense pressure which you\u2019ll get if you double the capacity\u2019\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018It would be a good idea if the Crown left what we could call the scale and future of Queenstown to people that live here and people that have a great love of the area.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018For the local council and the councillors themselves to be part and parcel of it is mind-boggling.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
Council planning and development general manager David Wallace says the height variation, \u2018\u2018and intensification generally\u2019\u2019, enables infrastructure to service developments in a more efficient and affordable manner.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018Enabling density in appropriate locations as opposed to urban sprawl helps to reduce the need for people to travel, sometimes over long distances, to reach their destination of choice, and it can have a significant impact on the overarching wellbeing of our community.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
According to a council paper, economic evidence notes increasing building heights may increase the feasibility of development.<\/p>\n
It states the 24m limit increases accessibility, by existing or planned active or public transport, to a range of commercial activities and responds to the relative demand for housing and business use in this location.<\/p>\n
And the proposed height limit applies to areas of the CBD that do not affect its historic core or impact on sunlight in key open spaces.<\/p>\n