Pukeh\u0101ngi Heights Plan Change 2 enabled residential and rural residential development. <\/p>\n
The council\u2019s 2023 future development strategy said a 2021 assessment found Rotorua would need more than 9700 homes in the next 30 years.<\/p>\n
The strategy would guide growth planning and investment decisions to help the council meet this demand.<\/p>\n
Bayleys Rotorua commercial salesman Damien Keenan said Rotorua\u2019s future housing needs would not be met through \u201csmall, fragmented development alone\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cDelivering meaningful housing supply requires projects that can accommodate growth at scale while creating cohesive, evolving communities. <\/p>\n
\u201cHunts Farm is one of the few opportunities capable of achieving that outcome.\u201d<\/p>\n
The history of Hunts Farm <\/p>\n
Hunt family spokesman Stephen Hunt told the Rotorua Daily Post their story began in 1920 when Neil Buchanan Hunt and his wife Emma Hannah bought land at the top of Malfroy Rd.<\/p>\n
Neil Hunt was a long-serving chairman of Rotorua County Council. Neil Hunt Park on Tarawera Rd was named in his honour.<\/p>\n
Stephen is the youngest son of Neil and Emma\u2019s youngest son John, and his wife Maureen.<\/p>\n
Stephen said his grandparents raised six sons, four of whom spent their working lives farming on the then larger Hunts Farm. <\/p>\n
Stephen said he grew up with the luxury of living close to town while also on a farm.<\/p>\n
He went to Westbrook School, Sunset Intermediate and Rotorua Boys\u2019 High School.<\/p>\n
Over the years, Stephen said Rotorua had \u201cslowly but surely grown out towards the farm\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is, I think, a real need for good quality development land for people … to build their family homes and live on.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stephen\u2019s older brother, Michael, manages the farm.<\/p>\n
Stephen said once the Pukeh\u0101ngi Heights plan change was adopted in 2021, the stormwater management plan needed to be progressed. This was finished in late 2022.<\/p>\n
\u201cSince then, we\u2019ve just been progressing the things that are in our control to prepare the land for development. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve just naturally reached that point where there\u2019s not much more we could do and it just makes sense that it\u2019s a developer that\u2019s got the right skills to actually progress it and take it forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of Rotorua\u2019s largest residential landholdings, Hunts Farm, is on the market.<\/p>\n
He said the farm would make \u201ca beautiful suburb\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s elevated, it faces north, gets the morning sun, you\u2019re going to have some glorious views and why not give it to a developer who can actually do that justice?\u201d<\/p>\n
It is close to schools and recreational amenities, with views across Rotorua city, Lake Rotorua and Mt Ngongotah\u0101.<\/p>\n
Stephen said now was \u201cthe right time\u201d to put it on the market.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re actually confident that the land can be better used now as a development. It\u2019s now better suited for housing than farming … \u201d<\/p>\n
Hunts Farm in Rotorua is being marketed by Bayleys.<\/p>\n
Stephen said the land\u2019s zoning \u201clends itself to a mixture of housing\u201d, although it depended on what the developer wanted.<\/p>\n
This could include a \u201ctypical residential development\u201d on the land next to Pukehangi Rd and on the elevated top terrace, and \u201clarger lifestyle properties\u201d on the hillside in the middle of the block.<\/p>\n
Stephen said the family was proud of the farm and its 100-year history.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor us, the timing is right to sell, and we think Rotorua will benefit from the next chapter.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rotorua Lakes Council destination development group manager Jean-Paul Gaston pictured in 2023. Photo \/ Laura Smith<\/p>\n
Council destination development group manager Jean-Paul Gaston said the council had done planning, infrastructure and consenting work to support development in the Pukeh\u0101ngi Heights area.<\/p>\n
This was particularly around stormwater networks to reduce flooding risks and enable housing development.<\/p>\n
Gaston said the council was progressing a stormwater discharge consent for the entire Plan Change 2 area.<\/p>\n
The council was responsible for obtaining this consent. The application was expected to be lodged with Bay of Plenty Regional Council in August. <\/p>\n
Gaston said Hunts Farm formed part of the wider Pukeh\u0101ngi Heights growth area.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe development has the potential to make a significant contribution towards meeting the future housing demand in Rotorua, while supporting economic and population growth in the city.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said Hunts Farm was part of two greenfield development areas in Rotorua. <\/p>\n
Hunts Farm is being sold with Bayleys via an expression of interest campaign closing on July 30, unless sold prior.<\/p>\n