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A public outcry has resulted in a lower population target for Orewa and limits on high-rise buildings in a revised draft master plan for growth.
Rodney District Council yesterday amended the plan after months of controversy. It is now allowing for only 1500 more new residents than its seven-year-old District Plan does.
But protesters who packed the council chambers still say the council's cap on building heights at 30m and 21m is not enough to stop a crop of tall buildings sprouting from the coastal plain.
Mayor John Law said the reason for the master plan process was that the existing District Plan allowed up to 25 high-rise buildings. The revised master plan cut that to seven or eight.
"Also there is no high-rise north of Florence Ave, so all the people on the hill won't be looking at high-rise in the central area."
Mr Law said high-rises would not be allowed on Orewa Beach, which is restricted to buildings of three storeys plus a pitched roof.
He said the revised master plan would form the basis of a variation to the District Plan which would go out for public comment later in the year.
Meanwhile, there would be studies made of how tall buildings would affect shade and wind.
But councillor John Watson said that under the Resource Management Act developers could apply for non-complying activities. "This means that seven storeys is just the start point for half of Orewa ... a foot in the door."
Deputy Mayor Bill Smith said the future growth of Orewa would be taken out of the hands of the council and decided by the Environment Court in cases brought by developers.
"We will all lose. Don't expect the Northern Busway to be extended to here without higher population density."
Orewa Residents and Ratepayers Association chairman John Drury called the meeting a farce.
"Council is trying to force through its own way. It's not what the public want; it's want the developers want."
The association will ask the auditor-general to investigate what he called a seriously flawed process.
Orewa developer Brendon Coghlan said the council had buckled to pressure and revised town centre building rules were not economically viable for developers. They were confined to just a 10-storey building and to do it developers had to accumulate a 5000sq m site, instead of the present 2700sq m.
"Nothing will happen for Orewa Town Centre."
However, said Mr Coghlan, revised rules for south of the town centre would allow buildings to go to 21m or seven storeys, instead of three, though they would be confined to one block deep fronting the Hibiscus Coast Highway and need a site equivalent to 30 properties.
Despite the current District Plan allowances, Orewa's only high-rise is the 12-storey Nautilus building.
Council senior policy planner Jason Evans said Orewa had grown by a quarter in five years to 5250 residents.
Public concerns over growth meant the master plan now aimed for a capacity of 11,000 people by 2050, instead of 14,500.
