Bold plan to change face of Whitianga

By KEVIN TAYLOR

Whitianga is set to double in size over the next 25 years after developers received the go-ahead for a $100 million canal subdivision.

A start on the project, which will create 1500 residential sections, had been delayed for 18 months by an appeal to the Environment Court. The appeal, by a Paeroa-based iwi, was dismissed in a decision released this week.

Work should start on the first stage in April.

Whitianga, along with the rest of the Coromandel, has experienced a growth spurt in the past five or six years. The peninsula's population has grown at three times the national average.

Waterfront houses in Whitianga now command $500,000 price-tags, and locals believe that the canal project will further boost real estate prices and spruce up the town's image.

The project is a joint venture between Hopper Developments, which developed Pauanui, and local landowners.

Dubbed Whitianga Waterways, the project has big local support, says Mercury Bay community board chairwoman Joan Gaskell.

She said it would change the face of Whitianga as well as provide new job and business opportunities.

To cope with the expected growth, a new waste treatment plant and water reservoir had been commissioned, and work was underway on plans to expand the town's central business area.

The board had also bought land for sports fields, and the Education Ministry had bought a site for a primary school.

The 1500 sections and canal network would cover 220ha. When finished, it would cater for a population of more than 5000. Whitianga's present population was about 3000.

Whitianga Waterways project manager Mike Harper said that in May or June a dredge would start excavating a 1.5km channel in Whitianga Harbour so that boats could get to the canals.

About 110,000 cu m of material would be taken from the harbour, and another 1.5 million cu m would be dug from land to create the canals.

In the first stage, 46 sections would be developed along the harbour frontage. Prices would range from $250,000 to $400,000.

But Hopper Developments spokesman Paul Shanahan said the subdivision would not just be for the wealthy. Five hundred sections would be beside the canals but the rest would be normal subdivisions, with section prices starting about $80,000.

Mr Harper said it would turn Whitianga into a "bustling community."

There were plans to alter State Highway 25 to make way for the canals, and to create a heavy traffic bypass.

The realignment would cost up to $6 million and Hopper Developments would foot most of the bill.

"It's a tradeoff. We could not proceed with the project if the road had not been shifted," Mr Harper said.

He said there could be as many as 10 stages in the project by the time it was finished.

The managing director of Hopper Developments, Leigh Hopper, said he was delighted with the court decision.

"The project will provide jobs and commercial activity in the Mercury Bay region for at least the next 25 years."

Thames-Coromandel mayor Chris Lux said the district council had supported the scheme from the outset. He said the council's original decision to grant consent for the project had been vindicated.

Mercury Bay was now the fastest-growing part of the Coromandel, and Mr Lux said the council's challenge was to ensure that services met demand.

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