Mall seeksOKfor up to 18-storey building

Johnsonville’s ailing shopping centre will be the site of a development up to 18 storeys high if its owners have their way – joining the likes of 18-floor buildings Fujitsu Tower and the Maritime Tower.

The shopping centre’s future has been a topic of discussion for several years as several stores have left the building.

But as the Wellington City Council makes plans for future housing through its draft spatial plan, the mall’s owners, Stride Property and Diversified NZ Property Trust, will be making an oral submission to councillors today.

The draft spatial plan proposed that Johnsonville’s town centre should become home to new eight-storey developments. This received a mixed reaction from residents.

In its submission, Stride Investment Management, on behalf of the owners, hoped the plan could recognise Johnsonville as a ‘‘metropolitan centre’’ and allow development of up to 18 storeys at the shopping centre site.

Having an eight-storey height limit would not allow intensification of a ‘‘sufficient scale’’ to create a precinct ‘‘appropriate for a new vibrant modern metropolitan centre’’. It would also not enable ‘‘efficient use’’ of the site.

The owners used the development of Auckland’s Albany as an example of what could be done.

‘‘The proposed height for the Johnsonville Shopping Centre site of only eight storeys is restrictive and will compromise the ability for Johnsonville to develop as a regionally significant centre.’’

It also called for clarity over density and proposed housing-type provisions in the plan.

The owners also called for an investigation into double-tracking the Johnsonville railway line and looking into the ‘‘desirability of removing through-traffic from Johnsonville Rd to create a high street within the metropolitan centre’’.

Tony Randle, the vice-president of the Johnsonville Community Association, said Stride’s proposal came as a surprise.

‘‘It would be a radical change to our community,’’ Randle said.

‘‘This is a huge change and it’s very difficult to understand their thinking because they’ve never explained [it].’’

Randle said residents were already concerned about the ‘‘already huge impact’’ Johnsonville would experience from the draft spatial plan.

‘‘Johnsonville is not Albany. They make a big play about Johnsonville being a metropolitan centre but the city does not treat it as a metropolitan when it comes to its facilities and investments.

‘‘People are very frustrated that these [spatial plan] changes are being done to them. They’re not being done for us.’’

A spokesperson for Stride Property Group said it was unable to comment on specifics of the development at this stage.

ha¯riu MP Greg O’Connor said 18 storeys did sound high for the area but he thought it would be interesting to see any potential plans.

Any future developments needed to be done tastefully and properly, and everyone would have an opinion, he said.

However, O’Connor said he did believe the people of Johnsonville would be happy to see some sort of development on that site.

The council’s place planning manager, John McSweeney, said he was aware some people in the community were concerned about the additional building heights that the National Policy Statement on Urban Development was pushing through.

‘‘The proposed height for the Johnsonville Shopping Centre site of only eight storeys is restrictive.’’

Stride Investment Management’s submission