Wānaka $300m hospital denied fast track consenting pathway

by Kim Bowden - Oct 07, 2024

A private hospital pitched as being able to fill a healthcare infrastructure gap for inland Otago has been left off the government's list of projects for fast track consenting.

In May property development company Roa revealed plans for a $300 million, multi-building health precinct in the town's Three Parks commercial development that would include a hospital with four operating theatres and a 24-hour emergency department.

But the company's bid for inclusion in the government's Fast-track Approvals Bill has failed, despite the ministers heading the bill announcing on Sunday ten other Southern Lakes and Central Otago projects have made the cut - including a golf course, two ski field gondolas, a ski field tunnel, a gold mine, and several new residential subdivisions delivering upwards of 6,000 new homes between them.

Wānaka resident and Roa chief executive Mike Saegers says in approving the list of projects it appears the government has overlooked health infrastructure and that is "disappointing".

"At a time when New Zealand is facing significant health infrastructure shortfalls and New Zealanders have been marching in the streets in support of healthcare services, not a single one of the 149 projects approved for inclusion in the bill is a dedicated health infrastructure project.

"No one is marching in the streets for more mines or golf courses".

Deputy mayor calls some fast track projects 'self-indulgent'

Queenstown Lakes District deputy mayor and Wānaka councillor Quentin Smith says the lack of infrastructure projects among those selected from the region is "more than notable".

"Let's just say that somebody got another golf course and we didn't get a healthcare precinct and private hospital," he tells Crux.

The deputy mayor is also questioning the viability of some of the projects being backed by the government and whether residents can realistically expect them to eventuate in the short to medium term, fast track consent or not.

"We've seen this before in our district, with things like Silverlight, that made huge promises of coming in and steeling our economy and getting on with it, and they simply don't occur.

"You can read between the lines on many of these...where there is unlikely to be an attempt to build them or even the financial capability to build them within the next two or three or five years."

While not naming specific projects, he calls some that have made the government list "comical" and "relatively self-indulgent".

Meanwhile Mr Saegers says Roa's regional hospital and health precinct is straightforward from a consenting perspective, indicating it could have been an easy win for the government - and uncontroversial.

"We applied to be listed to save time through a more efficient consenting process so that we could open the doors to a much-needed new hospital faster. It was never reliant on fast tracking to overcome a consenting hurdle, unlike some of those that have been listed."

He says Roa remains completely focused on delivering its project for the people of Wānaka and the Upper Clutha "irrespective of the pathway and timeline we must take to do so".

Controversial local projects approved for government fast track process

Main image (Supplied): The McCormick Street entrance of Roa's proposed Wānaka private hospital.