Developer ‘wants best’ for O¯akura land
The developer behind controversial plans for a housing subdivision in a coastal Taranaki village says he cares about what is best for the community.
But despite cutting his planned Wairau Estate in O¯ a¯ kura from 399 lots to 144, Mike McKie has admitted the village still appeared to be against it.
He says the development, to be built in stages, would be good for O¯ a¯kura, but residents fear they will be overrun. McKie’s plans, for land at the southern edge of the village, require a plan change to allow residential development on rural land.
A five-day hearing to decide whether that change can go ahead was adjourned in July and resumed yesterday in the New Plymouth District Council Chambers.
McKie addressed the hearing to explain why he had decided to scale back his plans.
‘‘The evidence presented gave me cause to reflect carefully on whether I should persevere with the original version or modify the proposal to respond to the concerns raised,’’ he said.
As a result he and his family had decided to make changes.
‘‘We did this because, despite some of the community sentiments expressed, we do care about what is right for O¯ a¯ kura.
‘‘While I don’t personally live in O¯ a¯kura, my immediate family does. They are part of the community.’’
McKie said he was concerned that residents felt he had misled them after they claimed they had been promised no further development after he completed his previous subdivision, The Paddocks. It had not been possible to lock in rural land use forever, he said, and everyone who bought a Paddocks property should have been aware of that.
‘‘It concerns me that submitters suggest I misled them on this point. I believe the terms of the consent notice are clear.
‘‘It also concerns me that submitters use this as an indication of untrustworthiness.’’
Colin Comber, the planner of the Wairau Estate, said they had commissioned a cultural impacts assessment and planned to work with the Nga¯ti Tairi iwi to include interpretive signage, road naming and a stone sculpture.
Comber maintained there was a disconnect between the planning documents for growth in O¯ a¯ kura and the submitters’ opposition to the entire proposal.
If all 33 lots of stage one were sold in the first two years of approval, it was ‘‘very unlikely’’ they would all be built on within those two years, Comber said.
‘‘If all 33 lots within stage one had dwellings built on them and occupied within three years of stage one subdivision approval, the average rate of population increase over the period would be 29.7 persons per annum, assuming no other significant subdivision activity at O¯ a¯ kura.’’
That was on par with the recent historic average, he said.
‘‘My point is that the township has evolved as the population has increased.’’
Experts for O¯ a¯ kura residents addressed concerns including cultural impacts, traffic and water supply.
‘‘There still remains uncertainty on the adverse effects of the application and request particularly in relation to social, cultural, traffic, and ecological effects,’’ planner Cameron Twigley said.
He said the community wanted managed growth and there was a clear preference for it to be to the west of O¯ a¯ kura, away from the Kaitakes and more logically connected to the village.
‘‘O¯ a¯kura is a small place and the number of submissions, and the way submissions were presented in detail, warrants the social impacts to be taken very seriously.’’
O¯ a¯ kura School submitted that despite the reduced proposal, their opposition remained unchanged.
The hearing was set to be adjourned to allow formal written responses by December 20.