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Residents overlooking Orakei Basin are making progress with developer Tony Gapes over plans for hundreds of apartments on an undeveloped waterfront strip of land just five minutes from downtown Auckland.
However, the Orakei Residents Society still has concerns about plans for nine apartments on the water's edge and worried about the future of a row of mature pohutukawa trees meant to screen a four-level apartment building with 42 residential units at 246 Orakei Rd.
The trees, clinging to a steep hillside, were damaged and the site backfilled with contaminated soil when the Auckland City Council started work on a 200-car park and ride station without resource consent. The soil has since been replaced with fresh soil.
Orakei Residents Society chairman Warren Tuohey said residents had got a partial victory since Mr Gapes unveiled plans in January - approved by the council without public notification - for a residential development on the former motel site on the Orakei headland.
Mr Gapes also has plans for 202 apartments on the other side of the railway line at 228 Orakei Rd - and could eventually build about 400 apartments on land he has leased from Ngati Whatua.
Mr Tuohey said the society, with 350 members, just wanted a "decent development" on the prime waterfront site and serious traffic concerns on already busy Shore Rd addressed.
After months of silence from the Auckland City Council, councillors and planning staff met the society last week.
City planning manager Penny Pirrit said the council was working with Mr Gapes' company, Redwood Group, another private landowner and Ngati Whatua to develop a masterplan for the Orakei headland. By the end of August, the council would know if a masterplan could be achieved.
"This is a unique opportunity to build a transit-orientated development [around Orakei railway station] but we want to retain access to the coastline and look at public open space," she said.
Mr Gapes said he was talking with the council about selling some land at 246 Orakei Rd to the council for a reserve. He would not rule out using the land for "nine absolutely waterfront house lots".
Mr Tuohey said the society wanted Mr Gapes to bring his 42-apartment block forward about 5m from the edge of the hillside in case the pohutukawa died to allow room to plant other trees to screen the development. That would "kill" any chance of Mr Gapes building his waterfront house lots, he said.
Mr Gapes said he had made three major changes to 246 Orakei Rd from the original plans. Parts of the four-storey building had been moved forward to protect the pohutukawa tree roots, the exterior colours had been changed to a more muted colour scheme to blend into the landscape and he had received expert advice on the trees.
Meanwhile, Watercare Services has started working on the $118.6 million project to bury the 90-year-old sewer line crossing Hobson Bay.
A large shaft is being excavated at Orakei Domain to house a sewage pump station for a new 3km tunnel.
