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The first big apartment blocks planned for a new Auckland suburb rising beside Mt Albert are closer to gaining building approval but are also facing opposition from the local council board.
Thousands of homes are set to be built on about 40ha in the suburb, including land formerly part of Unitec’s Mt Albert Campus, which has since been transferred to Maori ownership.
The six blocks currently seeking building approval include about 500 new apartments along Carrington Rd, with space for a new supermarket and 20 stores that could become home to cafes, restaurants and clothes shops.
But with the blocks rising between 6 and 10 storeys high, the Albert-Eden Local Board has called for any approval of individual buildings to be put on hold until after a private plan change for the entire area has been completed.
Board chairwoman Margi Watson said that would allow locals to know exactly where the new suburb’s future school, shops and green spaces will be, so the strain the apartment blocks place on nearby public services could be better understood.
“There is no current master plan for the site, so context, interdependencies and sense of place is completely unknown,” the Albert-Eden board said in comments provided to a planning panel deciding whether to approve the two new blocks.
The new apartments are the first step in a planned 15-20-year building project the Government hopes will become a model, master-planned suburb similar to that of Hobsonville Point in West Auckland, where a new community has sprung up on the former Air Force Base.
The new suburb will lie between Pt Chevalier, Mt Albert and Waterview in the city’s inner west and will take over what has been a beloved slice of open green space for nearby residents.
Iwi from within Marutūāhu, Te Waiohua and Ngāti Whātua form the Auckland collective of iwi.
The first project by Marutūāhu and Ockham Residential apartments includes plans for 385 apartments and space for a supermarket and 14 shops. Photos / Supplied
Each group will master plan their own section of the suburb — Marutūāhu in the north, Te Waiohua in the centre and Ngāti Whātua in the south.
The rōpū - iwi collective groups - are expected to work with each other to ensure their developments are complementary and provide enough education and other services to residents.
Yet the development comes at a time when there is tension between their leaderships, particularly that of Marutūāhu and Ngāti Whātua.
The two new apartment blocks currently seeking building approval are in Marutūāhu’s section.
It has teamed up with developer Ockham Residential to develop its more than 10ha slice of land called Maungārongo, beginning near Pt Chevalier Village and continuing for 800m along Carrington Rd towards Mt Albert.
Auckland's newest suburb will lie between Pt Chevalier, Mt Albert and Waterview in the city’s inner west.
The joint venture aims to build a series of apartment blocks with limited road and car access, instead creating more pedestrian walkways between the buildings and housing residents, who are reliant on public transport.
Marketing brochures say residents in the development should have many of the things they need within walking distance, including services like a metro supermarket, medical centre, creche, 24-hour gym, swimming pool, cafes, restaurants, commercial spaces, co-working offices, playgrounds, recreational spaces and community gardens.
“Maungārongo will showcase to the city – and to the Aotearoa housing sector – how scarce, high amenity urban land can deliver high quality, affordable housing that people can love,” Ockham Residential’s chief executive Mark Todd said.
“At the same time, Maungārongo will counter three pressing issues – urban sprawl, congestion and climate change.”
He said Marutūāhu and Ockham have track records for building successful “urban regeneration” projects loved by the community.
The first two apartment blocks for Marutūāhu and Ockham’s development are the ones now being considered by an expert panel that has the ability to grant fast-track building approval to them, but which also gives members of the public limited opportunity to have their say.
One of the projects contains two apartment blocks made up of four towers, including some rising to nine storeys, that will contain 385 residential apartments, a supermarket, approximately 14 retail and commercial stores as well as community spaces and facilities for residents.
The second project includes four apartment towers, including some rising to 10 storeys, that will contain 266 residential apartments and six retail premises.
Marutūāhu and Ockham Residential are already selling apartments in their first building, called Toi. Photos / Supplied
Called Toi - meaning art and knowledge - the seven storey building will have 65-units, including studios now on sale from $500,000, through to three-bedroom apartments selling from $875,000.
The two projects have general support from Auckland Transport and Auckland Council.
However, the Albert-Eden local board arm of council has requested the expert panel reject building approval for the six new apartment buildings.
It said in its comments to the panel it supports “generally” the “components of this proposal given it increases much-needed housing”.
However, it also said the height and scale of some buildings in the six blocks exceeds current rules under the Auckland Unitary Plan.
The strain buildings of that scale could put public services in the area meant there was good reason to first wait and see what the overall plan change for the entire development looked like, along with its outlining of what will be built where, the board said.
The board also called in for the projects to provide more facilities for residents in the form of bigger storage lockers and places for electric bikes, as well as fewer small studio apartments and more larger four-bedroom apartments to accommodate more families.
