Wolfbrook has formally triggered the fast track process for a development of up to 1000 houses on land including the former Pegasus golf course, official documents sent to Chris Lynch Media reveal.

The documents, released under the Official Information Act, show the company lodged a statutory notice with the Government on 24 June of its intention to seek approval for what it calls the Pegasus West Development Project. It is the first time the confirmed scale and scope of the scheme have been set out in an official filing.

The section 11 notice, prepared by Christchurch planning consultancy Novo Group on behalf of Wolfbrook Developments (Pegasus) Limited, covers about 77 hectares across 13 Wolfbrook owned titles between Pegasus, Ravenswood and Woodend.

Beyond housing, the notice discloses plans for a commercial and community hub providing retail, healthcare, education and community services, alterations to Pegasus Boulevard including intersection improvements and a new road access, stormwater infrastructure with neighbourhood parks and green links, and staged earthworks over time.

Wolfbrook describes the site as “a logical and contiguous extension” of the wider Woodend, Pegasus and Ravenswood urban area, arguing the project will deliver significant regional benefits including construction related economic activity and employment.

The company points to the closure of the golf club previously operated by Pegasus Golf Limited, saying the site now “presents as a logical extension of the urban area” free of constraints such as highly productive land, airport noise contours or high flood hazard areas.

The fast track route would bundle all approvals into a single process, bypassing the usual publicly notified consenting path through the Waimakariri District Council. Alongside resource consents for subdivision, land use and earthworks, the documents show Wolfbrook anticipates needing an archaeological authority under the Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Act, a Wildlife Act approval, and possibly approvals for fish salvage works.

The notice acknowledges the land sits within a culturally significant landscape and says Wolfbrook has initiated engagement with Ngāi Tūāhuriri, with design to be guided by Ngāi Tahu’s subdivision and development guidelines, including protection of wāhi tapu and enhancement of the Taranaki Stream.

The correspondence also reveals a quirk of the Government’s own law changes. The Ministry for the Environment told Wolfbrook’s planners in June that following amendments to the fast track legislation last December, it is no longer a relevant administering agency and developers are no longer required to consult it before lodging an application.

The ministry refused the remainder of the information request on the grounds the information does not exist, indicating no referral application had been lodged at the time of its response on 17 July.

The disclosure will intensify an already heated dispute in the seaside township. The 18 hole championship course, part of the original Pegasus master plan, was placed in liquidation in March owing about $9 million to creditors. Wolfbrook bought the 80 hectare site in a mortgagee sale in May, believed to be for between $6 million and $7 million, closed the course on 1 June, and later filled the holes with concrete to deter golfers.

Waimakariri Mayor Dan Gordon has urged the minister responsible for fast track approvals to reject any referral application, saying developments outside the growth areas identified in the district plan should not be eligible for the pathway. The council is also working with the Pegasus Residents Group, local businesses and community members to explore a community led purchase of the golf course as an alternative to development.

Speaking to Chris Lynch Media on Friday, Waimakariri MP Matt Doocey said the special zoning for the golf course had lapsed, and any developer still faced hurdles in the fast track process, including assessment against legislated criteria, a substantive application and an independent panel.

The community’s frustration was understandable, he said.

“We’ve got a town here master planned round a golf course, and people brought into thinking that that was going to be protected. So quite rightly, they’re quite upset about that.”

Doocey said the Waimakariri district was fast growing and residents generally accepted development in the right place, pointing to fast track housing projects already underway, including one at Gressons Road above Pegasus.

Labour list MP Dan Rosewarne said residents felt they had been denied a voice.

“The biggest concern that they have is that they didn’t get that say. They didn’t get that opportunity. If it can happen in Pegasus, it can happen anywhere.”

A petition against the redevelopment, organised with the Pegasus Residents Group, closed with well over 15,000 signatures and will be received by Rosewarne, Doocey and Gordon on the steps of Parliament on 22 July.