There’s a catch: Homes in highway path
A wrecking ball-shaped question mark hangs over a new Wellington development knowingly being built in the path of a proposed inner-city highway.
Three of the four options tabled to improve transport between Wellington’s CBD and eastern suburbs include widening Wellington Rd between Ruahine St and Cobham Drive, where the New Zealand Transport Agency has already bought up properties on either side of a three-townhouse development under construction.
Some homes on the stretch of road, which is part of State Highway 1, sit empty. Others are rented out by the agency or are in private ownership with those inside not knowing what the future holds.
Some, if not all, of the under- construction townhouses – dubbed Po¯neke Villas – will have to be moved or demolished if the road widening goes ahead. The agency has confirmed it may acquire them under the Public Works Act and demolish them.
It is envisaged that the wider highway will connect to a proposed second Mt Victoria tunnel. The houses being built in its path carry a price tag of about $850,000 each.
All the new houses were consented by Wellington City Council, which had no option other than to give them the green light.
Harcourts agent Steve Fejos confirmed the developer behind Po¯neke Villas was aware there was a ‘‘possibility’’ the homes may have to be bowled.
However, after an independent board of inquiry kicked a proposed Basin Reserve highway flyover for touch in 2014, the agency’s designation on the Wellington Rd homes came to an end. This meant that when the developer went to the council for consent, it could not say no ‘‘on any grounds’’.
The build went ahead without any definite plans in place to widen the highway and would-be buyers would be warned their home may soon be demolished, he said.
It was impossible to say whether all three townhouses could be torn down as it was not yet known what roading project was planned. However, under the agency’s original plan to have six lanes along the stretch, all three townhouses would have to go, he said.
The development is by Silverline, a company directed by Alex Khera. Attempts to contact Khera this week were unsuccessful.
A council spokesman said it was ‘‘required to make planning decisions based on the activity status and zoning of any given site at the time a resource consent application is made based on the District Plan’’.
No final decisions had been made on road widening, he said.
Green Building Council chief executive Andrew Eagles said an average demolished house created about 20 tonnes of waste.
‘‘It’s bananas that a house would be built, using all the resources, time and money that goes with it, only to be possibly demolished in the near future,’’ he said.
‘‘And it’s even worse that it would be demolished due to the construction of a road-widening plan that will accommodate more cars, and more pollution.’’
Transport agency regional relationships director Emma Speight confirmed it was aware of the townhouses.
The agency did not have the ability to stop development as no designation was in place and it complied with the district plan.