North Shore Times (New Zealand)
More thought needed, neighbour says
Hec Stewart doesn’t oppose the daycare set to be built behind his property, he just wishes more thought had been put into it.
A resource consent application for a 100-child early childhood education centre had been approved for the site, without any notification. Stewart said he didn’t think many neighbours knew it had been approved.
Consent was granted to the Kaenan Family Trust to construct and operate the centre in July 2017. According to the council decision on notification of an application, the application proceeded without notification because ‘‘there are no adversely affected persons’’.
The application is for properties on Beach Rd at the southern end of Mairangi Bay.
Once complete, the daycare will operate from 7am till 6pm weekdays.
Stewart said the scale of the centre wasn’t concerning, it was the other things, he thought hadn’t been considered.
‘‘Parking is a real problem here, there’s so little on the property,’’ Stewart said. ‘‘The road is really busy in the mornings and it’s built near a roundabout.
‘‘I don’t think there’s been a lot of thought.‘‘
Stewart was also worried about the trees bordering a nearby stream, and said the decision was an ‘‘unusual’’ one.
‘‘No matter how much money you have, you can’t go and buy an old tree.’’
Stewart said an application for
‘‘No matter how much money you have, you can't go and buy an old tree.’’
Hec Stewart
a daycare on the site had previously been discussed in 2016 but this time it happened quietly.
‘‘We weren’t given a chance to discuss it and put our cases forward.’’
Stewart didn’t think noise from the site would be an issue, if the maths had been done correctly. The granted application outlined conditions around wastewater and stormwater drainage, traffic management, and geotechnical works, andnoise control, earthworks, dust and more. There were also ecological and biodiversity conditions related to tree felling and any lizards found on site.
When constructed, the centre will join a raft of other early education centres in the area.
In the Bays section of the Hibiscus and Bays Local Board, there are 21 early childhood education centres, which, combined, take a maximum of 762 children.