Residents oppose apartments
FRANKTON residents have not ruled out going to the High Court to stop a 227apartment development at Remarkables Park.
Siteworks for the apartments — 50 of which are being bought by the Queenstown Lakes Community Housing Trust — began in April, and construction is expected to be completed late next year.
Developer New Ground Capital was granted nonnotified consent by the Queenstown Lakes District Council in December for the development, off Cherry Blossom and Copper Beech Aves behind the Remarkables Park retail centre.
However, almost 40 residents living near the site have concerns including traffic congestion, limited parking and the height of the buildings.
Three of the buildings would be between four and six levels, with several shared spaces and outdoor car parking.
Two would be sold on and there were plans for the third to be leased to employers for worker housing.
Copper Beech Ave resident Michele Fiebig said the only option for the concerned resi dents was a legal challenge through the High Court. She was at the meeting and is opposing the development.
‘‘Proceeding with a judicial review with the High Court can be an expensive exercise, but it isn’t something we’ve ruled out.’’
Other residents were concerned about potential damage to existing homes during the construction phase, in particular compound machinery cracking houses, and, given about 600 people would be accommodated, the potential change to the feel of the wellestablished residential area.
NGC managing director Roy Thompson said the company had been ‘‘completely open about this affordable housing development through the planning stages’’ and it had not received a ‘‘single query from the community’’ since plans were made public.
‘‘We’ve worked hard to ensure the development is as sympathetic to the local neighbourhood as possible, noting it’s a large complex,’’ he said.
Housing trust executive officer Julie Scott said while it appreciated neighbours might have ‘‘some concerns’’, that was not entirely unexpected.
‘‘However, we would hope they can work with the developer to mitigate issues where possible.’’