KEY POINTS:
The company behind a proposed Whitianga-type canal housing development near Auckland took a swipe at neighbouring lifestyle-block owners yesterday.
Opening its case for a 297-home village on the western bank of the Wairoa River 5km north of Clevedon in East Auckland, the Wairoa River Maritime Village consortium told a Manukau City Council committee that opponents of the scheme were "resistant to change".
Consortium partner Chris Jones said the proliferation of lifestyle blocks on which many of the people who had lodged submissions against the plan lived "has done considerably more to alter the rural character of Clevedon than will our maritime village".
Rather than allowing the spread of lifestyle blocks, the council should support housing "densification" in existing centres, he said.
Councillors will spend the next three weeks hearing dozens of submissions for and against the $100 million-plus development, which will require substantial changes to Manukau City's district plan if it is to go ahead.
It has divided opinion in the mainly rural district.
Opponents say it is a Gold Coast-type project that is not in keeping with Clevedon's rural character and will spoil that by having a negative effect on the environment.
Supporters say having hundreds of new homeowners will be good for the local economy, facilities for boaties will be improved by dredging of the river and creation of a wetland will mean conservation gains.
Consortium managing partner Derek Presland said the village would be a community with a strong common interest rather than a "random collection of urban-style housing".
Planner David Haines said the village would have its own water supply and sewage treatment plant.
The council's decision on the application is not expected before next year.
