O'Rourke Denis: Riccarton Racecourse Development Enabling Bill Riccarton Racecourse Bill — First ReadingsText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeO'Rourke Denis: Riccarton Racecourse Development Enabling Bill Riccarton Racecourse Bill — First Readings[Sitting date: 03 November 2015. Volume:709;Page:7572. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]DENIS O’ROURKE (NZ First): First of all I want to thank the Christchurch City Council for the very good information that it has provided in support of its promotion of this bill. As we who live in Christchurch know the Riccarton Racecourse is a very important piece of reserve land for racing in Canterbury but there is a lot of land there and I think it is quite appropriate that the surplus land should be available for housing because that is also a major objective in Christchurch these days.The objectives of the bill are well set out in the city council letter of 14 September to members of Parliament and it says this: “The objects of this bill are to: (a) identify part of Riccarton Racecourse to be available for housing development; (b) provide the Board of Trustees with the powers to prepare finalise and implement a development scheme in relation to the development land; (c) confirm that the balance of Riccarton Racecourse continues to be held by the Board of Trustees on trust for the purposes of racing; (d) provide for the continuation of the Board of Trustees in whom Riccarton Racecourse is vested …; and (f) otherwise provide for the administration of the Board of Trustees.” What that means is that we are going to get two important objectives achieved. One is racing as it always has been achieved there and the other is the provision of more land for housing which is also an urgent priority in Christchurch.So the key purpose of the bill is to increase the supply of affordable and market housing in Christchurch because following the earthquake sequences of 2010 and 2011 the Christchurch housing market has faced significant challenges as far as both the availability and pricing of rental housing and new housing are concerned. In addition to that there has been further pressure resulting from the influx of workers on the Christchurch rebuild. The pressures have resulted in high prices for houses and extraordinarily high rents for rental homes. So with this bill the board of the Riccarton Racecourse will be making better use of land that is surplus to provide for that major objective in the greater provision of housing in Christchurch.I am pleased to see that the proposal involves building at least 600 new homes on the site with about 30 percent of those to be reserved for more affordable houses. Now that is totally in line with New Zealand First policy—that is what we want to see although I think we would prefer to see 50 percent as affordable homes rather than 30 percent. Nevertheless this is a pretty good effort. “Affordable” is actually defined in the bill as “below the threshold for first home buyers to access the KiwiSaver HomeStart grant”. Clause 6 actually says this in defining the meaning of “affordable house”. It says: “ ‘affordable house’ means a house that has a maximum sale price at the date on which the house is sold as required by section 9(a) of—(a) the amount at which a person eligible for a HomeStart grant in Christchurch City would be able to purchase the house and receive the grant; or (b) if the HomeStart grant scheme no longer exists as at that date the last amount that applied under paragraph (a) when the HomeStart grant ceased; or (c) $450000 if the amount referred to [in paragraph (a) or (b) (as the case may be)] is less than $450000.” So I think that is a very comprehensive and very appropriate definition of what an affordable home would be for the purposes of this bill.The bill would provide for a development scheme meeting specified minimum requirements to be submitted to the board by the Minister. In that regard clause 9 says this: “Minimum number of affordable houses requirement—[A scheme submitted to the Minister must—] (a) require a minimum of 180 affordable houses on the land to have been issued with code compliance certificates …; and (b) provide for compensation payable to the Crown in accordance with section 14 if that minimum number of affordable houses requirement is not met.” That means that we will see at least 180 affordable homes—and I think that is a good effort—but as I have said before 50 percent or 300 affordable homes would have been better.However the whole development is very welcome in Christchurch where there is still a very significant shortage of homes and what the Government has done is I think quite insufficient to meet that shortage as in Auckland. But it is especially pleasing that this development is happening because it is quite near to the central city and it is very proximate to excellent public transport existing schools shops doctors and many other facilities.The enabling bill also provides for compensation to the Crown if affordable housing is not achieved within a specified time frame as I have already mentioned. In that regard clause 14 says this: “(1) A scheme submitted to the Minister must (a) provide for the compensation payable by the Board to the Crown if a scheme is approved and the Board fails to meet the minimum number of affordable houses [requirement] referred to in section 9(a) …; and (b) specify the amount payable or the method to be used for calculating the amount payable which must include or provide for the following: (i) monthly compensation starting 5 years after the approval date of $1500 per month for each house by which the number of houses that meet the time limit in section 9(a) is less than 180; (ii) maximum compensation payable for each house of $17000 …; (iii) the remission of compensation in part or in whole if for reasons specified in the scheme it would be unreasonable for the Crown to enforce the compensation …”. So there is a bit of a let out clause if it is unreasonable that that compensation should be paid. I think that is a very adequate way to ensure that there is a very firm incentive for the developer to ensure that the affordable houses that are to be built are actually achieved.I very much approve of legislation that has teeth. This has teeth. I think it will mean that the affordable houses we want to see will actually be built. I think the bill is well drafted and well-thought-out. Indeed it could be a good template for others in similar circumstances elsewhere in the country or indeed elsewhere in Christchurch because there is actually a significant amount of other surplus land available both in Christchurch and in Auckland where the shortage in houses is the most acute. This is one good way of achieving more affordable houses and more homes generally in areas where there is a housing shortage. New Zealand First is happy to support the bill and to congratulate those who have conceived it.