Consent for new complex sought
Summerset Villages has applied for resource consent to build a fourth retirement complex in Hawke’s Bay.
Summerset, which operates villages in Napier, Hastings and Havelock North, has applied to Napier City Council for a second village in Napier.
The company purchased nine hectares of land in the suburb of Te Awa in April with the intention of developing the new village, estimated to be a $150 million project.
A resource consent application lodged with the council late last month said the village would be comprised of 241 single storey self-contained independent living units, 56 one-bedroom assisted living suites and 43 care beds in a main, three storey building.
‘‘The layout of the village in terms of the pattern and scale and relationship to the public realm (streetscape) and neighbouring properties, presents a residential aesthetic and character which is of a scale and style that readily ‘fits’ into the surrounding [and future] neighbourhood,’’ the application stated.
New trees and existing palms that will be relocated would ‘‘complement the sense of arrival, and the scale of the built form, as well as to provide maturity to the village’’.
Street front planting would complement street tree planting and provide privacy to the units on the boundary, with ‘‘pocket parks spread across the site to provide common areas for a range of active and passive recreation, and ‘pause’ places’’.
Access will be from Erikson Rd, and the proposal included minor road improvements to both Erikson and Kenny roads.
Council staff were currently carrying out a notification assessment in order to determine whether there were any affected parties or whether the application should be processed on a notified or non-notified basis.
Summerset did not request public notification and the council must now decide if the activity will have or is likely to have adverse effects on the environment that are more than minor and which warrant full notification or any approvals from nearby landowners.
This decision is likely to be made before Christmas.
A Summerset spokeswoman said the company hoped to start construction next year.