600 new homes for Cambridge
More public reserves have been piped into a plan to build 500-600 new homes in Waipa¯ .
The new residential development is earmarked west of Leamington, between Lamb St and Cambridge Rd, as part of the Waipa¯ 2050 Growth Strategy.
Details were presented to Waipa¯ District Council’s strategic planning and policy committee, which gave its stamp of approval to take the plan out for public feedback.
It’s proposed the development be completed in stages, through to 2035, and will serve as a new gateway to Cambridge.
Strategic projects driver Justine Kennedy’s report said there was a risk the community would be against further residential growth because it was contributing to traffic congestion and water shortages.
‘‘To mitigate this risk, we will be inviting the community to talk to us about their concerns during the feedback period, which will run for four weeks.’’
Councillors heard there had been extensive residential development in the northern areas of Cambridge and this latest plan would ‘‘balance out the town’’, Kennedy said.
The committee wanted to know if there was provision for ‘‘compact residential’’ or higher density homes.
But Kennedy said higher density building was more suited to town centres, such as in Cambridge’s centre, where there could be mixed residential and commercial use to keep the area ‘‘alive’’ after 5.30pm when traditionally people left work to go home.
One change had been made to the plan after taking into account feedback from the council’s community services team, the council’s strategy manager Kirsty Downey said. That was to include possible reserve areas. The plan showed provision for a public park and another reserve.
Pedestrian and cycleways featured highly and there was room for commercial activities such as vets, childcare or other shops.
Next to the commercial centre is the intersection of Kaipaki Rd, Cambridge Rd and Lamb St. A new four-leg roundabout is planned to deal with the projected increase in traffic.
Speaking in an earlier interview, the council’s transportation manager Bryan Hudson said the planned residential development could trigger further road safety improvements to Cambridge Rd.
It included the corner where two people died after a car and a truck collided on February 22.
‘‘We have a history of crashes with people not getting around that corner. It’s not uncommon with major roads with long straights that come into sharp corners.’’
He said there were many similar locations on the Waipa¯ road network and in fact around the country.
‘‘So we are exploring what future improvements can be made to that corner, if there’s going to be more traffic on that road.
‘‘That’s a bit of work we’re starting at the moment.’’