Board wants development area removed
Campaigners fighting developers in their coastal Taranaki village want growth kept on its seaward side rather than sprawling across the highway towards the mountain.
Land on either side of State Highway 45 in Oakura has been earmarked for future urban development, with a controversial 400-home subdivision already proposed for the mountain side.
The Kaitake Community Board (KCB), which covers the village, is opposing the Wairau Estate subdivision put forward by developer Mike McKie.
His application, which involves changing the current rural zone to allow development, is being considered under the current New Plymouth District Council District Plan.
The council is now updating the plan in order to guide growth over the next decade, and the board is asking for the mountain side development zone to be removed, although this will not impact the decision on whether the Wairau goes ahead.
Principal residential growth of Oakura should be on the seaward side of SH45, the board’s submission says. It argues there is already 18.1 hectares on the seaward side available for development, and NPDC wants this to happen no sooner than a 10-30 year timeframe.
The community board questions the ‘‘wisdom of providing an opportunity through the District Plan for any residential development’’ in the Oakura mountainside development zone.
And as there were ‘‘no
Estate subdivision realistic infrastructure funding arrangements included in the 2018/28 Long Term Plan’’ the board thinks the best long-term risk-limiting solution would be for the mountainside development area to be scrapped.
‘‘The pressures resulting from a growing population and increasing tourism demand have the potential to put the Oakura community and its coastal environment at significant risk.’’
The submission is due to be signed off at the board’s meeting today.
The Wairau Estate development has been opposed by many residents and requires a plan change to allow residential development on rural land. A five-day hearing into the plan change took place at New Plymouth’s TSB Showplace in July and remains adjourned. Interested parties had until last Friday to submit new evidence, which will be heard when the hearing reconvenes on December 2.
When asked what effect the KCB’s request could have on the Wairau Estate, NPDC district planning lead Juliet Johnson said they could not comment at this stage on the two different legal processes.