Coromandel: The big squeeze

Introducing a Herald series

The rush on the Coromandel Peninsula is coloured green, not gold, a stampede of city-dwellers and retirees to this bush-clad paradise that many worry will be destroyed in the process.

From the docile shores of the Firth of Thames to the rolling surf of Whangapoua, property prices on the peninsula have boomed as Aucklanders and Hamiltonians answer the call of real estate agents: slap your $5000 down now and you can secure that beachfront villa, luxury apartment, holiday hideaway.

House sales have trebled in the past four years, while building consents have risen by 70 per cent since 2001.

A modest home on the sought-after east coast starts at $350,000 - at the upper end of the market, the sky's the limit.

On the less-fashionable west coast, prices for a basic bach start at $250,000 but agents gleefully predict that won't last.

Modest-income families who could once have afforded a modest seaside bach are being squeezed out, while family baches handed down through the generations are under threat as their owners agonise over high rates bills and that tempting offer which comes with a knock on the door.

Many warn that the price being paid by the environment for this sprawling development is too high.

Harbours and waterways are becoming polluted as antiquated wastewater systems and sewerage plants fail to cope. Wildlife sanctuaries often collide with new subdivisions.

The Thames Coromandel District Council is struggling to pay the bills for roading, soil erosion and flood protection.

It appears the long history of environmental activism on the peninsula is as relevant today as it was more than 30 years ago, with conservationists and environmentalists being joined by residents associations and ratepayers groups to fight planning rules and resource consents.

Whangapoua residents are taking a case to the Environment Court to try to stop a sawmill being built in a nearby valley; Whitianga residents tried and failed to stop a "Mission Bay-type" apartment complex on the town's waterfront.

Whether it's a local politician or "greenie", a bach owner or developer, almost everyone agrees the Coromandel Peninsula is a special place; suburban Auckland cannot be allowed to simply relocate to its shores.

The challenge is how to stop it.