A government minister and an opposition MP have found common ground on Lake Tekapo, backing residents who say their village is being overwhelmed by short term visitor accommodation, as the Mackenzie District Council insists a compliance crackdown is already underway.

Minister for the South Island James Meager and Labour list MP for Waimakariri Dan Rosewarne told Chris Lynch Media’s political segment on Friday the district’s existing rules had to be enforced, with Meager saying he sided with residents who believe developers are gaming the system.

The comments follow a Chris Lynch Media article where residents accused the council of losing control of development in the village, claiming more than half of Tekapo’s housing stock is now short term visitor accommodation.

Meager, who visited Tekapo just over a month ago and met councillors and community board members, said the issue had been raised with him directly.

“We don’t want to lose the social licence for tourism because we know how important it is for the Mackenzie,” he said. Meager said there was a clear shortage of housing in the area, but he also took aim at operators flouting the rules. “The rules are in place and they should be abiding by them,” he said.

He said businesses that played by the book were being undercut. “You’ve got the hotel there, which obeys all its licensing requirements, accommodation requirements, health and safety, and then you start having Airbnb providers having six or seven rooms in their little accommodation. So I think there’s a fairness issue there. I am aligned with them on this one.”

“We talked to the council about how they could do better with their enforcement and what resources they needed for that.”

Rosewarne said the strength of feeling in the community was striking, with residents speaking up at public meetings and now forming a residents’ group.

“When you hear figures like around 900 short term accommodation properties across Tekapo and Twizel, people are naturally asking what that means for the future of their communities,” he said. He said the priority was enforcing the rules already in place.

“If people are found to be breaching the district plan, then the council should take action. If it turns out the current enforcement powers aren’t strong enough to deter breaches, then it’s reasonable to look at whether stronger penalties are needed.”

Rosewarne said the message from the community was clear. “Locals aren’t asking for tourism to stop. They’re asking for a balance. They want visitors, but they also want a community where local people can afford to live and raise their families. And I don’t think that’s an unreasonable expectation.”

The council, which took 12 days to respond to Chris Lynch Media’s original request for comment and apologised for the delay, has defended its record.

In a statement, Mackenzie District Council said it acknowledged the concerns of residents and the accommodation industry, and had committed additional budget in both the 2025/2026 and 2026/2027 Annual Plans to fund a compliance programme.

The council said 937 properties already paid a portion of a targeted rate to the district. Its district plan requires a resource consent where accommodation is provided for more than seven guests, or where there is more than one unit on a site, and it expects a significant number of properties will need one.

Mayor Scott Aronsen said investigative work was already underway, covering district plan requirements, rates obligations, financial contributions and Building Act compliance.

“We understand that many residents want confidence that the rules around visitor accommodation are being followed consistently across the district,” he said.

Mayor Aronsen said the process could not be rushed. “Every property must be assessed on its own circumstances, evidence must be carefully considered, and Council must act within the powers and processes set out in legislation.”

He said some operators had already been contacted and the community would see increased compliance activity over the coming months.

Both MPs pointed to housing affordability as part of the problem. Meager, who worked at the Tekapo pub in the summer of 2006, said accommodation had become far more expensive, recalling that he paid about $50 a week in rent on Scott Street at the time.

He warned that clamping down too hard could push prices even higher. “We’ve got to be careful. If we constrain accommodation too much, it’s only going to make that accommodation more expensive,” he said.

Meager said the solution was more construction, both permanent and short term. “We could do more around making it easier to build long term permanent accommodation for families,” he said. “We do need to make it probably easier to build some of that short term accommodation, so you’re not getting the unscrupulous actors cramming people four to a room into a two bedroom house.”

A resident who spoke on the condition of anonymity said the village was “being systematically destroyed by corporate greed,” with local people squeezed out of the housing market. Residents pointed to homes consented as large holiday homes before being operated as high occupancy visitor accommodation, including one Mistake Drive property granted consent for six guests despite plans showing eight bedrooms and ten bathrooms.

Residents presented a united position at a community meeting at the Tekapo Hall on June 29, and a residents’ group is being formed.