North Shore Times (New Zealand)
Community’s car park reprieve
Auckland Council has delayed making a decision over the future of Takapuna’s Anzac St car park in the light of strong opposition from the local board and community members.
Devonport-Takapuna Local Board chairman Grant Gillon, along with four other board members, attended the Planning Committee on Wednesday to oppose a vote on changing the use of the site from a car park to a mixed use area.
The car park has been identified by council development arm Panuku Development for sale and potential mixed use development.
A change in the use of land was needed before those plans were to go ahead.
Gillon said the community clearly opposed the change of use, with a majority of the more than 2000 submissions made on the site during a period of public consultation registering opposition.
Of those submissions, 57 per cent opposed the change, while 41 per cent supported it.
‘‘Listen to the people of Devonport-Takapuna, listen to the people of the North Shore,’’ Gillon said.
A large community contingent who attended the meeting broke into applause following Gillon’s comments.
Debate on the contentious issue raged for more than two hours, with some council members expressing concern around moving forward with the car park’s development when it was clear the local board and community were firmly against the plan.
The committee decided to defer making a decision on the change of use, to give Panuku more time to consult with the local board in order to draft recommendations both parties would be happy with.
Panuku was to report back to the planning committee by March, with hopes the process could be completed closer to Christmas.
The decision passed 14 to 2. Gillon said he was happy with the meeting’s outcome.
‘‘I think the deferral provides us with an opportunity to work with Panuku to get the right outcome for the community,’’ he said.
Gillon said he wanted to see a partnership rather than a consultation process with Panuku.
The local board will meet with Panuku for a workshop in December, but Gillon said an outcome before Christmas was unlikely as the board had to consult with the community.