KEY POINTS:
Many of us have an image in our minds of rural New Zealand as it should be. Perhaps it involves a country road winding through rolling green countryside, children walking to school barefoot, sheep being shepherded across the road, or cattle on their way to the cowshed for milking.
Maybe you'll also find a little white kauri church, lush pastures, vineyards, grazing horses and a small settlement that's grown up gradually over more than a century, as the natural centre of its local countryside.
Every week there's a farmers' market there and, once a year, an A&P show. It's a good place to be, with a distinctive character. But does it really exist?
Well, for the moment at least, it does. Just 40 minutes away from central Auckland, the Clevedon Valley remains a quietly beautiful stretch of real countryside, and Clevedon exudes a genuine village-like feeling.
It's not just a great place to live. It's also a relaxing place to go for a Sunday drive or for engaging in a wide range of leisure pursuits.
The local authority, Manukau City Council, seems to appreciate the area's rural traits and regularly celebrates them in tourism promotions. One leaflet praises the valley's "outstanding natural beauty", its peace, tranquillity and "rural style".
But it's hard to square the council's celebrations of rural Clevedon with its apparent support for a proposed district plan change that threatens to change the area's character.
At issue is a proposal to build 297 new homes in a high-density complex just north of Clevedon.
The development, to be known as the Wairoa River Maritime Village, would be set on a series of man-made canals, close to where the river flows into the Hauraki Gulf. The plan change would allow part of the valley to be re-zoned, to accommodate the development.
Submissions from residents earlier this year showed a six-to-one ratio against the plan change. These and other submissions from further afield are to receive a council hearing in the two weeks starting on November 20.
It's not hard to understand why many local people are opposed to the canal development. Intensive housing of the type proposed would be wholly out of keeping with an essentially rural area. Moreover, the development would more than double the population in the immediate vicinity of Clevedon, placing a strain on infrastructure, health and education services.
As the canal development is for residential use only, the shops, businesses and services required by people living there would need to be built either in Clevedon or in the surrounding countryside, irrevocably changing their character. You might also have to forget about your relaxing Sunday drive around our country roads, as traffic is bound to increase substantially.
Another place to expect traffic jams would be the Wairoa estuary. On an average Sunday morning you will find 15 or so boats making their way seawards on the tide. But imagine what it would be like if every household in the proposed development owned a boat. And, ask yourself why anyone would want to live in a "canal village" unless they were interested in boating?
A further concern is the large-scale dredging of the river and sediment disposal that would be required, probably on a recurring basis.
But, above and beyond these individual issues is the consideration that, once rezoning has taken place, a precedent could be set for a wide range of other development projects which would further disrupt and alter our environment.
Most of us locals are sensible people who understand that change is inevitable and growth desirable. But the canal project would involve us in sweeping, hasty and ill-considered change, for which we are ill-prepared and which could not help but spoil our surroundings.
There will be some who accuse us of "Not in my backyard". But this isn't an issue that affects just locals, recreational visitors or overseas tourists. It concerns everyone in the Auckland region.
Our largest city continues to suck in people from elsewhere in New Zealand and from overseas. New housing developments are mushrooming and road traffic increases constantly.
Superficially, it might seem like a sensible solution to keep on extending urban-style intensive housing into Auckland's rural hinterland. But international best practice is to retain the balance between city and country and to avoid the erosion of greenfield areas.
That is also the approach of the Auckland Regional Council, which opposes the canal project and, very sensibly, wants new developments situated in and around existing settlements and in places that can be served by public transport.
The Wairoa River canal development isn't the only high-density development being suggested for Auckland's outer rim. Readers of the Herald will be aware of the plan to provide European-style village housing for up to 6000 people on a farm near Waimauku. And there are also proposals to build intensively on the fringe of Long Bay Regional Park.
Perhaps it's time to ask some serious questions about how we want Auckland to develop. Do we want to live in a formless suburban sprawl, edging and leapfrogging ever outwards or do we want a vibrant, compact urban centre, surrounded and complemented by a peaceful and relaxing countryside?
Auckland's territorial authorities have some big decisions ahead.
* Mary Whitehouse is the spokeswoman for Clevedon Cares (Community Action for a Responsible Environmental Strategy), committed to preserving the rural character of Clevedon Village and Valley.
