Hamilton approach path twice as high as last year?

[oj]

I live near Vilagrad on Rukuhia Road. Scheduled-service aircraft arriving from the south and using runway 18 fly directly overhead our location before entering downwind, base and approach over Newstead.
At the point above Rukuhia Road, they now fly in at twice the height compared to this time last year.
Why is this?

[lindstrim]

At the moment there’s a restriction on flying visual approaches into most airports, but that may change soon