Boundary change consent given

THE first step has been successful for a developer hoping to turn private culdesac Peak View Ridge into an access point to its development.

Resource consent was granted this week to Allenby Farms Ltd to undertake a subdivision and boundary adjustment to allow for a new, wider road to be built.

It follows a hearing held in May between Allenby Farms and residents of Peak View Ridge.

At the hearing, counsel for the applicant Warwick Goldsmith said the application was the ‘‘first step in a fourstep’’ process that would result in the road connection between Peak View Ridge and Allenby Farms’ development in the Northlake Special Zone.

Residents submitted the application did not take into account the effects a new large road through to the zone would have.

Traffic on the road would increase from 15 to 30 vehicle movements per day to nearly 3000, they submitted.

But Mr Goldsmith told the hearing panel of independent commissioners Lee Beattie and David Mead that the actual building of the road was not being sought in the application, and a separate consent for that would be sought in the future.

In his decision, Dr Beattie noted none of the submitters ‘‘actually challenged the subdivision itself’’ but rather the future intention of the area for a roading access.

He did not believe the adverse effects would be significant enough to not grant consent.

However, the consent does not mean any construction will begin on the road.

As part of the consent conditions, no work can start until Allenby Farms obtains the separate consent which enables a road connection between Peak View Ridge and the Northlake Special Zone.

Residents would be given the opportunity to submit on that consent if they desired.