KEY POINTS:
The fate of the rural backdrop to Long Bay Regional Park will again come under scrutiny next week when two versions of plans to build houses there are presented to the Environment Court.
North Shore City Council's view of what makes for sustainable development of the greenfields site will be challenged by a major land owner, the developer Landco.
Landco says its land can accommodate 7740 people but the council believes its plan for 4500 to 5000 people treads the delicate balance between catering for urban growth and preserving heritage and environmental values.
Aspects of a structure plan or development framework will also be opposed by the Auckland Regional Council, Okura-Long Bay Great Park Society and some other landowners.
Starting on Monday, the case is scheduled to last three weeks, with more than 70 witnesses and a large public gallery expected.
Judge Jon Jackson is coming from Christchurch to hear the case in Room 8.2 - the largest tribunal room, next to the Auckland District Court.
The council first publicly notified a structure plan in May 2004.
It was in response to the Environment Court's 1996 ruling that the metropolitan urban limit should be pushed out to embrace farms on the city's northern fringe, next to the popular regional park and the Okura-Long Bay Marine Reserve.
The plan met not only landowner opposition but also a torrent of protest from the society, which wanted farm land to be protected and merged with the regional park to form a "1000-acre [404ha] Great Park".
Supporters of the Great Park made up most of the 10,000 submissions presented to commissioners at a public hearing in late 2005.
The commissioners accepted the basic concept of the plan and councillors adopted the plan with minor changes last June.
Landco and the society both appealed to the Environment Court.
The regional council will ask the court for changes in order to:
* Ensure urban development does not encroach into the rural Okura area.
* Protect the regional park from visually intrusive development.
* Avoid destruction of nationally significant Maori and European archaeological features.
Landco is presenting its own version of a structure plan that it argues is a preferable, realistic and sensitive alternative to the council's one.
The company says its plan is backed by credible expert views from a range of consultants, with international experience. It believes the plan provides a viable, desirable community and more efficient use of the land.
