A petition opposing a major housing development at Ōhoka has attracted about 2000 signatures.

Carter Group is seeking Fast Track approval to develop about 154 hectares of rural zoned land adjoining Ōhoka.

The project was listed as approximately 850 homes, but the substantive application seeks 879 residential allotments.

It also includes a local centre, a retirement village of up to 250 units, a polo ground, roads, reserves, waterways and three waters infrastructure.

Carter Group said the development would be delivered gradually.

“The proposal is for around 850 homes, developed in stages over several years, not hundreds of houses being built overnight,” a spokesperson said.

“It also includes a neighbourhood centre, parks and open space, walking and cycling connections, and land set aside for a retirement village.”

The land has been the subject of two previous attempts to secure residential rezoning.

Waimakariri District Council declined Private Plan Change 31 in December 2023 after an independent hearing panel found it would not contribute to a well functioning urban environment and did not give effect to national and regional planning directions.

A second attempt to rezone the land through the Proposed Waimakariri District Plan was rejected in 2025. That decision is under appeal.

Ōhoka Residents Association spokesperson David Nixon said a consultant engaged by the members had identified what the association believed were false or misleading claims in the application.

Nixon said the allegations called the project’s eligibility for the Fast Track process into question.

The association has produced a Claim versus Fact document challenging statements about economic benefits, housing capacity, flood risk, wastewater infrastructure and Environment Canterbury’s involvement in the Environment Court appeal.

“We have engaged with Government regarding how they plan to deal with this, but as yet have received no response,” Nixon said. “It is the basis for the petition.”

Carter Group rejected the allegation.

“We have not made any false or misleading statements,” its spokesperson said.

The company said opponents were contesting parts of its evidence and the expert panel would consider the competing positions.

The association has questioned an economic assessment estimating the development could generate between $801 million and $1.269 billion in construction output, up to 3685 job years and $29 million in annual retail demand.

It said the same report acknowledged that building the homes elsewhere in the region would probably produce similar expenditure effects.

The association also disputed the need for the development, pointing to Council material indicating capacity for between 14,000 and 17,000 homes across the district over 30 years.

Flooding has become another central point of disagreement.

The association said the site contained a shallow water table, springs, wetlands and waterways, while neighbouring roads and properties had experienced flooding.

Carter Group said describing the development site as being in a flood zone was incorrect.

“The suggestion that the proposed Ōhoka development is in a flood zone is simply wrong,” its spokesperson said.

The company said Waimakariri District Council hazard maps showed the site was not within the mapped one in 200 year flood hazard area or the equivalent coastal flooding hazard area.

It said flooding, groundwater, stormwater and downstream effects had been examined during the earlier independent hearing process.

“The commissioners accepted the expert evidence that flood effects could be appropriately managed through the proposed engineering and stormwater design,” the spokesperson said.

Carter Group said the project included about 26 hectares of stormwater attenuation designed to detain and control runoff during a one in 200 year rainfall event.

It said the proposal would also create wetlands and provide environmental restoration.

“Any reporting that describes this land as being in a flood zone would be inconsistent with the Council’s own maps and the evidence tested through the independent hearing process,” the spokesperson said.

The current Fast Track panel will still be required to examine the project’s stormwater design and potential effects.

Panel convener Jane Borthwick recorded that Waimakariri District Council considered the application had a shortfall in stormwater attenuation and did not comply with its Engineering Code of Practice.

The panel minute also recorded that no test bore or flow testing had been undertaken for the proposed community drinking water supply.

Local authorities said the available flow rate had not been demonstrated and potential effects on neighbouring wells and streams had not been excluded.

Council has also raised concerns about the proposed wastewater connection, its wastewater policy and capacity at the Rangiora Wastewater Treatment Plant.

The panel minute said Carter Group had not engaged with approximately 70 neighbouring landowners or occupiers, or with people in the wider neighbourhood and community.

Carter Group said neighbours would be invited to comment and participate in the panel process.

Labour MP Dan Rosewarne told chrislynchmedia.com that the lack of guaranteed public participation was a significant concern for residents.

“This was one of the first issues raised with me when I came back to Parliament five months ago,” Rosewarne said.

He said he had held two public meetings, written to Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop, helped with the petition and returned to update the community.

“Ōhoka is ground zero for all of this,” Rosewarne said.

“The community have spent years engaging with planning processes and making their views known about this large scale development in their community.”

Rosewarne said the development was now being pursued through a process where residents were not guaranteed an opportunity to comment.

“You don’t get to write a law that sidelines communities and then hide behind that same law when those communities demand to be heard.”

Rosewarne is scheduled to receive the petition at Ōhoka Domain at 10am on Monday.

Doocey said his relationship with Tim and Philip Carter meant he needed to manage potential conflicts of interest.

“I’m actually related to the developer, Tim and Philip Carter. They’re my cousin and my uncle,” Doocey said.

“Because of that, I’m having to manage perceived and real conflict of interest through the Cabinet Office, taking advice from them, and also the Clerk of the House through Standing Orders as well.”

Doocey said the application would be considered by an independent statutory decision maker, with Council represented on the expert panel.

He said the panel had authority to determine who was affected, invite participants and appoint experts to examine environmental and infrastructure concerns.

“I think what is quite encouraging is that the panel has acknowledged a range of issues with this application and is taking an extended time to go and step through them and seek answers,” Doocey said.

The four member panel is scheduled to begin considering the application on 31 August.

Comments from invited participants will be due by 12 October, with Carter Group’s response due by 19 October.

Subject to any suspension of proceedings, the panel’s decision is due by 10 March 2027.