An artist's impression by Nicholls Group of what the new Bennetts Rd development would look like.
An artist's impression by Nicholls Group of what the new Bennetts Rd development would look like.
Work is about to start on a private housing development on a long-time vacant block of land in Rotorua’s Koutu’s subdivision, which aims to bring up to 72 new homes to the area.
Diggers will move on to the 2ha site, which is surrounded by Bennetts, Panui and Whittaker Rds, next week and builders will start on the homes early next year.
Signs at the land have gone up this week. Photo / Andrew Warner
One local said it was pleasing to see something positive happening on the land but a local spokeswoman said she was concerned about the pressures on infrastructure.
Developers Nicholls Group from Auckland will build between 57 and 72 architecturally designed medium-density homes that would target first-home and mid-range buyers.
The homes will be two- and three-bedroom duplexes as well as one- and two-storey stand-alone homes.
The final plan for the Nicholls Group development on Bennetts Rd is as yet unconfirmed.
Nicholls Group director Shane Nicholls told the Rotorua Daily Post it was estimated the homes would go on the market for prices starting about $570,000 - although market conditions could change.
He said the development was two years in the making and they were excited to have now been granted resource consent.
Nicholls said it was a private development that would provide a “cool way to live”.
“It’ll have an open community feel and the houses have a European flavour.”
He said the area had sat empty for so long it was an “eyesore” and had become a “dumping ground” when in fact it was prime real estate, close to Lake Rotorua, close to the city centre and in a growing city.
He said if you “ignored the shopping trolleys, rubbish and rumours” it was a “prime” location for a development.
He said site work would need to be done.
The site of a new housing development on Bennetts Rd. Photo / Andrew Warner
“Just because you can’t put a house straight on the land doesn’t mean you can’t build on it. Most sites you need to do work on now. There’s nothing wrong with the land at all.”
He estimated construction would begin early next year with the first buyers moving in before the end of the year. It was hoped the entire project would be finished within three years.
Nicholls said each house took between 10 and 20 people to build, which meant hundreds of jobs would be created. It was his preference to employ locals.
Nearby resident Mike Miller was pleased to see something positive happening on the land.
“It’s better to see quality homes that fit in with the community than what is there now.”
The Bennetts Rd development. Photo / Andrew Warner
Active Koutu community member Natalie Richards said she was all for new housing but it was disappointing that there had been, in her view, “no meaningful engagement” with locals.
She said some people near the development got a letter about remedial work but as far as she was aware, that was all.
“We have one of the most active and known communities. People know if they are going to do something in Koutu who the people are they need to talk to to help make that engagement happen and we haven’t had that.”
Richards said infrastructure was another concern as other housing developments were under way in Koutu.
“It’s already hard enough to get into doctors and dentists, our schools are bursting and in winter we had a lot of flooding and our stormwater system can’t cope.”
She said the traffic at the intersection of Bennetts and Lake Rds was already “horrific” with “awful near-misses”.
“So that’s a lot of homes in a small community that potentially won’t be able to cope with such an influx.”
Richards said residents were keen to hear what the plans were to mitigate some of the concerns to help better understand how it would affect those already living in the area.
Nicholls said his company had consulted with local iwi and members of the council and infrastructure concerns, particularly stormwater, were addressed as part of the resource consent.
He said they had spent hundreds of thousands of dollars doing several reports to satisfy the resource consent and he was happy to meet locals who wanted to discuss it in depth.
Nicholls Group’s website said it was a family-owned and operated property company based in Auckland that started building community housing in Auckland, Tauranga and Hamilton but now focussed on the private sector specialising in identifying under-utilised development land.
Kelly Makiha is a senior journalist who has reported for the Rotorua Daily Post for more than 25 years, covering mainly police, court, human interest and social issues.
