Mayhem in paradise feared

Percy Rd residents Ailsa Scott and Rick Dunn are upset about the impacts of a proposed development on their community. Photo / Andrew Warner

Residents living on one of Papamoa's oldest streets fear a massive influx of cars and a drop in living standards if the Tauranga City Council supports fast-tracking a big apartment and commercial development.

Rick Dunn of Percy Rd is concerned Housing Accord legislation was being used to push the development through at Sunshine Paradise on the corner of Papamoa Beach Rd and Domain Rd.

"Our nice quiet residential street will be turned to mayhem," he told the Bay of Plenty Times.

Developer's representative Bob Wooller said the company was not trying to push it through and said the council approached them to ask if they wanted to put the development into a Housing Accord.

After seeking advice, he agreed the accord would be beneficial and result in a quicker decision. Developer Graham Rodgers had been trying to achieve a development on the site for years.

The Government's Housing Accords and Special Housing Areas Act seeks to bring more land to the market to increase the supply of houses and bring down prices.

The council's selection of Sunshine Paradise as a potential special housing area dismayed Mr Dunn, who said it could inject nearly 2000 cars a day on to Percy Rd.

Most traffic would be generated by the development's commercial component - a use that was not permitted under the land's residential zoning.

The council's planning and growth manager Andy Ralph said the act overrode council planning rules so that zoning did not come into it. Special housing areas could include retail provided it was "ancillary to quality residential development". The development was predominantly residential.

Plans showed that vehicle access would be off Percy Rd, near the intersection with Domain Rd. Mr Dunn said motorists from the Mount Maunganui direction would opt to whip along Percy Rd rather than negotiate the roundabout and right turn across Domain Rd.

He was also concerned about the impact of the proposed 14m height of the apartment portion of the development - 50 per cent higher than what was permitted in the zone.

The council had yet to decide whether to recommend Sunshine Paradise as a special housing area to the Government. If it was approved by the Minister of Housing, then submission rights were limited to adjoining landowners.