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by Raquel Carter - Fernhill Resident

Let’s remember a few things.

As the Government drops this new ‘conservation amendment bill’ on NZ this week, which will allow numerous Fast Track proposals an easy path, it is important to first remember the value of people and place. We must respond fast and protect people and the environment, that is under threat. The Fast Track process raises serious concerns for many residents of the wider Whakatipu community and now the country. This is not simply a debate about affordable housing or economic development. It is about how business is being prioritised over the NZ environment, speed over resident safety, and decades of planning.

The Whakatipu Basin is already under significant pressure from growth, ageing infrastructure, and natural hazards. It is exactly the kind of environment where decisions require careful assessment, local knowledge, engineering scrutiny, environmental review, and meaningful community consultation. More than 20 proposals are being put forward. Let’s use Bowen Peak Ltd’s proposal as an example of why this is dangerous. The proposal includes creating a new steep hillside suburb of 175 eight-storey chalets for approximately 1,335 people above Fernhill, in forest land - above a community already facing challenges with roads, waterways, sewerage systems, and emergency access. There are engineering and geological concerns raised about the steep land above Fernhill, including instability, flooding, rockfall, landslide risks. These are not abstract issues. They relate directly to the safety of people living below. And that Fernhill, in its current population, cannot be safely evacuated in an emergency.

The Fast Track process reduces the level of consideration normally applied to developments of this scale. It was the government that created local councils, to enable engineers, environmental specialists, and public consultation processes to exist for a reason. Providing safeguards developed over decades to help communities avoid irreversible planning mistakes. Fast Track prioritises speed and economic growth, rather than good planning. Large-scale developments built in the wrong location create irreversible consequences.

Not to mention the idea of three gondolas intended of transporting hundreds of visitors up to Bowen Peak. The mountains are not simply land waiting to be exploited. Long before Queenstown’s tourism, this whenua was Te Taumata-o-Hakitekura — the resting and viewing place of Hakitekura. Hakitekura, daughter of Chief Tūwiriroa of Kāti Māmoe, who climbed Bowen Peak to understand the challenge of Whakatipu Waimāori before swimming its freezing waters and lighting her fire at Refuge Point. That fire, Te Ahi-o-Hakitekura, remains part of the living memory of this landscape. Each visitor’s ascent quietly echoes her act of bravery and relationship with the land. Let that metaphor land, because the Whenua deserves respect of both its people who live here and its past. Housing must be located where communities can sustainably support it, alongside infrastructure, growth and long-term planning made with care and transparency. Before it’s too late - have your say about the conservation amendment bill by Thursday July 2nd - Every community deserves some clear answers, evidence, and truth of what is ahead.