The government has confirmed that property developer Wolfbrook has applied to use a special fast-track process to redevelop Canterbury's Pegasus Golf Course for housing. Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop's office says officials are checking whether the application is complete enough to proceed (RNZ).

Wolfbrook bought the 77-hectare, 18-hole golf course at a mortgagee sale in May. The previous owner, Pegasus Golf Ltd, had gone into liquidation — meaning it could not pay its debts and its assets were sold. Wolfbrook wants to build up to 1000 homes on the land, along with shops and community spaces.

The fast-track process is a law the government brought in to speed up approvals for building projects, cutting through the normal steps that can take years. Bishop would not say whether he supports the proposal, because he is the minister who decides which projects get to use the fast-track system. His office said officials would either pass the application to him or send it back if it was incomplete.

If the application gets the green light to proceed, local councils, local Māori, the Minister for the Environment, and neighbouring landowners would be invited to have their say. An expert panel would then make the final decision on whether the housing can go ahead. Bishop's office says fast-track applications have taken about 81 working days on average so far.

The plan has upset many locals. More than 16,000 people signed a petition asking for the project to go through the normal consent process instead of the fast-track. The petition was delivered to Parliament in July. A public meeting in June drew more than 500 people. In early July, Wolfbrook concreted over holes at the golf course, which made tensions worse.

The local MP, Matt Doocey — a member of the governing National Party — has opposed the project and its use of the fast-track process. Waimakariri mayor Dan Gordon has also opposed it and wrote directly to Bishop asking him to decline the application (RNZ).

The council was first told about Wolfbrook's plan on 24 June, when a planning company called Novo Group wrote to the council on Wolfbrook's behalf (Waimakariri District Council). Under the fast-track law, the council had 20 working days to formally respond. It did not put in a formal response, though council staff did meet with the developer to talk about the proposal.

Gordon released a public statement in July after Wolfbrook confirmed it would apply for residential zoning through the fast-track process (Waimakariri District Council). The council's website had earlier confirmed Wolfbrook's plans.

Separately, the Ministry for the Environment published a release of official information on 22 July. It included correspondence and advice about the Pegasus Golf Course site and the fast-track process, provided to Bishop (Ministry for the Environment). The release covers Wolfbrook's dealings related to Pegasus Golf Ltd, the golf course site, and the fast-track application.

The broader context here is that this application is a real-world test of the fast-track law. Bishop has two roles that sit in tension: he is the minister who promoted the law as a way to build houses and infrastructure faster, and he is also the person who must decide independently on each application. His refusal to say what he thinks about the Pegasus proposal reflects that legal duty. But it also means the focus is on the paperwork and the process, not on what the minister personally wants. For a government that promised fast-track would fix slow consenting, a controversial housing bid on community land in an electorate held by its own MP is an uncomfortable mix of policy and local politics.

Doocey's opposition puts him in a difficult spot — he is a government MP pushing back against his own government's law in his own electorate. Gordon's letter to Bishop shows the council's opposition is on the record, even though it missed the 20-day window to formally respond under the Act.

If the application gets past the referral stage, the final decision will be made by an expert panel, not by the minister. But whether it gets that far is Bishop's call, and the 81-working-day average gives a rough idea of when that decision might come.