Green light for Plimmerton Farm
A housing development to be built at Plimmerton Farm in Porirua has been given the green light by Government – and environmentalists are devastated at the news.
The change to the district plan, granted yesterday by Environment Minister David Parker, means a 386-hectare block beside State Highway 1 will be rezoned as housing rather than farmland, allowing more than 2000 homes to be built by private developer Plimmerton Developments Ltd.
A range of medium-density apartments, terraced houses, rural opportunities and retiree options can now go ahead in the hills above Taupo¯ Swamp, a rare wetland just north of Plimmerton.
Porirua Mayor Anita Baker said the development would address a nationwide need for housing, and was confident new technology and best practices would protect the natural environment.
‘‘Porirua’s population has been growing rapidly and there’s simply not enough land or housing available,’’ she said. ‘‘This development will meet some of that urgent need.’’
Stuff reported in October that Porirua became the most expensive district in which to rent in the region.
The minister granted the proposed rezone under a streamlined process, which largely removes the right for Environment Court appeals.
Helmut Modlik, chief executive of local iwi Nga¯ti Toa, said any opportunity to increase housing should be considered a win, as long as it could be done wisely, with thought to infrastructure, the natural environment, and the future.
Baker said a third of the site, mostly hilltops and around swamp areas where building was impossible, would be protected.
The decision came after a recommendation from an independent
hearing panel with expertise on ecology, planning, tikanga Ma¯ ori, sedimentation, environmental law and urban design.
However, Bill McAulay, chairman of Friends of Taupo¯ Swamp and Catchment, said he personally felt gutted by the decision.
The society began with the goal of planting natives and clearing weeds and blackberries from the swamp, and had, by necessity, morphed into a voice for concerns for the safety of the its ecosystems, home to 19 native bird species and diverse plant life.
Approval of the development raised the question of whether the hours spent planting and weeding were all for nothing.