Developer has much bigger, 'refined' plan for Long Bay

A major land-owner at one of Auckland's most popular beaches says it can house nearly twice as many residents than is planned by the North Shore City Council.

Landco told a hearing into the council's proposed Long Bay Structure Plan yesterday that this should be replaced by Landco's own "refined" version for a subdivision next to the regional park and Okura-Long Bay Marine Reserve.

This plan better balanced the region's push for urban growth against protecting the environmental values, said Landco lawyer Angela Hurst.

The company's version enabled up to twice as much growth, at 2669 dwellings or 7740 people.

Ms Hurst said the council plan led to "inefficiencies of land use and prevents the land-owner from maximising development efficiencies in an environmentally sustainable matter".

The council plan had as a starting point the protection of natural features - regardless of their value.

This was inconsistent with the aims of the Resource Management Act, the Auckland Regional Policy Statement, the Regional Growth Strategy and the North Shore City Blueprint.

Enabling the urbanisation of Long Bay would ease pressure for housing in more environmentally sensitive areas that were not within the metropolitan urban limits, such as Okura. The refined plan would save about 100 rural hectares elsewhere in the region.

Company planning manager Neil Donnelly said Long Bay was a unique opportunity for a high-quality urban area.

But in order to make the project economic, an appropriate number of lots was needed.

Increasing the yield would allow Landco to spend on beautifying stream banks and streets and the reserve network.

However, the council plan was a "significant impediment" to achieving high quality and was unworkable.

The company also disputed the worth of many of the natural features that the council sought to preserve, and its restrictions on earthworks, which caused a serious loss of development potential.

Landco assets

* Owns 32,500ha of farm, vineyard and housing land.

* Owns 400ha of future housing land in Auckland, including the former Mt Wellington quarry and land at Albany and 170ha at Long Bay.

* Is planning a development on the Ngunguru Sandspit, near Whangarei.

* Sold 44ha at Long Bay for $30 million to enlarge the regional park.

* Aims to have 7500 people living at Long Bay, compared with the council's provision for 4000.