City mall given the green light
A multimillion-dollar shopping complex on the outskirts of New Plymouth has been given the goahead by an independent commissioner.
But the commercial retail complex – including 30 specialty stores, a supermarket, a six screen cinema, a hardware store, offices and a 75-room hotel – planned for a 7.44 hectare site opposite the Valley Mega Centre is not a done deal.
Yesterday New Plymouth District Council (NPDC) said an appeal can be lodged with the Environment Court until April 29.
Tauranga-based developer Bluehaven Management was granted resource consent through NPDC following an independent hearing.
The consent had to be sought because the plans for the site, formerly occupied by fertiliser company Ravensdown, did not comply with a number of rules, including building height and onsite parking.
In an emailed statement, NPDC said commissioner Mark St Clair approved the application on Friday, April 3, subject to conditions.
In his decision, St Clair said a primary focus of the expert evidence and joint witness statements was the potential traffic and transport effects of the development. In his evidence, a consultant traffic engineer for the council had argued the scale of the proposed development would ‘‘create negative transport effects on the surrounding transport network’’, greater than the developers had reported.
However, two traffic engineers for Bluehaven disagreed and said measures would ‘‘appropriately mitigate the potential traffic and transportation effects’’.
The commissioner therefore ruled that the ‘‘traffic and transport effects will be acceptable’’, with conditions in place.
These include: developers submitting a construction traffic management plan before starting work; telling NPDC 10 days before work begins so the conditions of the consent can be monitored; and informing the council when upgrades to State Highway 3, Smart Road and Katere Road begin.
The resource consent application stated the development would take place in three stages over three years.
The developer’s PR company, Blink PR, was approached for comment. In an emailed response, they said they had nothing to report at this stage.