He said the board wanted Mr Reid to report back within a month so that the council could consider alternatives for proposed land swaps. The council advertised proposed land swaps yesterday [Monday] under which Fletchers would give the council 2.7ha on the quarry floor mainly for two soccer grounds and the council would give Fletchers 2.3ha around the western and southern edges of the site including one existing soccer ground.
Submissions on the land swaps close on July 24.
Separately, planning commissioners held hearings last month on Fletchers' application for a district plan change to allow the development. Their decision is expected in the next few months.
Three Kings United Group president Garry Bryant, whose group was set up 19 years ago as a residents' "watchdog" over the quarry development, said residents would probably appeal to the Environment Court if the commissioners approved the Fletchers plan. He said the council should have waited until the overall plan was decided before notifying the proposed land swap.
"They have put the cart before the horse," he said.
He said Mr Reid had already provided expert evidence for his group at the planning hearings, suggesting an alternative plan with the soccer fields at the northern end of the quarry instead of at the sunny southern end where Fletchers proposes them.
A key issue in the dispute is the development's depth below the surrounding street level. Fletchers obtained a resource consent in 2011 to fill the quarry up to street level, but it now proposes to fill only up to between 15 and 18 metres below street level, with apartments "cascading" down from the street. At the southern end, its plan says: "The difference in levels between Three Kings Park and the existing quarry floor means that an innovative system of stairs, ramps and public lifts will be required."
Mr Bryant said Mr Reid proposed filling to between 3 and 5 metres below street level "so you could still hang some apartments over the quarry wall, but also have more access to them".
Mr Doig said Fletchers seemed to have opted for leaving the quarry floor closer to its current level both so that it could start building sooner and so that it could fit in a lot more apartments below the height limits.
Another objector, former Auckland city councillor Greg McKeown, said the proposed density of 1500 homes in a quarry area of 15ha (not counting the proposed land swaps) would be four times the density of the Stonefields development in the old Mt Wellington quarry, where there were only 22 to 25 homes per hectare.
"The projection is for an extra 3500 people here," he said.
"If you look at that in terms of the average NZ age groups, which Fletchers says they will have, that means [a need for] 24 classes of kids. So besides talking about the sewerage and stormwater, which the soccer fields are part of, if you start talking about the social infrastructure, there is no contribution here."
However a Fletchers spokeswoman said Fletcher Living had not "changed its mind" on the depth of the proposed development, and proposed a plan that would protect the adjoining Big King mountain, be visually appealing, connect residents to local amenities and public transport, and have "solid infrastructure including water and sewerage and stormwater management".
"There has been extensive community and stakeholder consultation, led at times by Auckland Council and the Puketapapa Local Board as part of the development of the Three Kings Plan," she said.
"Broad support for our plan change was received as part of the public submission process."
The proposed land swap is online at: shapeauckland.co.nz
