Neighbours sceptical about plans for housing
Worries that off-course golf balls and the sound of early morning lawn mowers on the greens will draw complaints need to be resolved before houses are built on Palmerston North’s former Manawatu Teachers College site.
The Manawatu Golf Club neighbours the 10-hectare block of land between the Hokowhitu Lagoon and Manawatu River that has been sold by Massey University to Wallace Development Group.
It is proposed to be rezoned from institutional to residential use in a change to the Palmerston North City Council District Plan.
More than 30 submissions have been received, and council planner Michael Duindam said most either did not support the development or had raised concerns that would need to be addressed.
Manawatu Golf Club president Peter Mcredmond said the club did not want to stop the development going ahead.
‘‘We are working with key people at Wallace Development and the council, and are looking forward to a successful outcome for all concerned,’’ he said.
But Duindam said the club had concerns about how the 130-home subdivision on its boundary might affect its ability to continue to operate.
He said the sound of early morning lawn mowing and a few errant golf balls going onto neighbours’ properties were among the activities that might prompt complaints from residents.
There were options such as covenants and acoustic insulation that could help protect the course’s existing use rights, he said.
Other submitters had raised worries about traffic, parking, and changes to their outlook.
‘‘The themes are around traffic... and loss of open space.’’
Several submitters were worried the extra traffic to and from the new homes would put pressure on a difficult intersection where Jickell St joined Te Awe Awe St at Wallace Park.
Duindam said the concerns were a little surprising, given that the roading network used to cope with much greater volumes of traffic when the site was a busy campus.
He said the council would look again at whether different travel patterns might have effects at peak times that would have to be managed.
Some Jickell St residents wanted the council to consider planting more street trees and narrowing the road to encourage people to drive slowly past their houses.
They were also concerned about losing their outlook across
‘‘The themes are around traffic... and loss of open space.’’ Michael Duindam,
the lagoon to open space at the campus once housing was built.
Duindam said it appeared people visiting the lagoon, including those taking part or watching water sports, had become used to parking at the campus and enjoying the open public space, and that convenience would be lost.
He said the subdivision would have a wide road reserve and footpath along Centennial Drive, and he was confident it would be an attractive neighbourhood.
People wanted to see as many trees as possible retained when the land was subdivided, including a group of kanuka and a memorial grove.
The submissions will be made publicly available within the next week or so, and people will have 10 working days to make any further submissions on the points raised.
The proposed plan change would go to a resource management commissioners’ hearing later in 2017.