Homes safe from destruction

A community living in fear its countryside homes were up for demolition can breathe easier.

Watercare has decided it was not now looking to build a water treatment plant in the west Auckland suburb of Oratia.

The council-controlled organisation made its decision at a board meeting on May 30, where it decided that building on its site next to its existing plant close by in Waima, Titirangi, was its preferred option. About 100 people on Parker Rd now no longer have to live with the threat of their land being compulsorily acquired.

Watercare has been considering where to build a replacement for its 90-year-old Huia Water Treatment Plant, which supplied about 19 per cent of Auckland’s water.

Board chairperson Margaret Devlin said the trees lost at Manuka Rd could be mitigated by Watercare’s progressive planting in the Hunua Ranges, but the company can not easily mitigate for the loss of homes.

‘‘Simply put, those affected residents in Parker Rd could not be relocated locally,’’ she said in a press release.

Save Oratia spokesman Paul Goldsmith said that although Oratia residents were happy at the decision, the celebration was a little muted.

‘‘Obviously we appreciate the concerns that the Waima community will now face and our thoughts go out to them.’’