Planners reject Long Bay park

Opponents say council plans for Long Bay would see green hillsides flattened to allow houses, apartments and a shopping centre. Picture / Greg Bowker

Long Bay planning commissioners say they will not rezone private rural land for a "Great Park" next to one of Auckland's most popular beaches despite public pressure to save it from housing development.

Yesterday they released results of their inquiry into a North Shore City Council plan to allow a mixture of housing and reserves on one of the last chunks of untouched coastal land in Metropolitan Auckland.

A public hearing on the structure plan last November drew more than 10,000 submissions - mostly opposing it and pleading for the block to be left as countryside and be merged with Long Bay Regional Park to form a 400ha great park.

"The strength of community feeling on this topic is unmistakable," says the report of the commissioners, who included Mayor George Wood.

"The strong view was that the council should be making further acquisitions of land and that the structure plan process should be deferred to enable this to occur."

Commissioners heeded council advice that it could not afford to buy 200ha from developers to add to the regional park.

This was already 152ha - thanks to recent acquisitions by the city and Auckland Regional Council.

"That in itself is an extremely valuable public resource," say the commissioners.

"We do not consider that in the content of the present hearing we can recommend the extension of the existing park by rezoning of private land, particular in the absence of present council funding for the acquisition."

They also say that it is inappropriate to defer decisions on the structure plan to enable further private land to be bought.

It is still open for the council to designate areas for additional reserves.

The council delegated Mr Wood and councillor Callum Blair to be commissioners, with lawyer Michael Savage (chairman), planner Jenny Hudson and civil engineer Roger Mills.

Their recommendations on the detailed framework for managing development will be considered by the full council on Wednesday night.

Disappointment in the report was expressed yesterday by the Great Park Society convenor, Fiona McLaughlin.

She said 10,840 residents objected to the structure plan and 57,000 people had signed a petition calling for the Great Park instead.

Any council decision to go ahead with the structure plan would allow green hillsides overlooking the beach, regional park and marine reserve to be flattened to allow houses, four-storey apartments and a shopping centre.

"The beach will become just another North Shore beach."

"Councillors will regret not saving the land when they look back after more years of explosive growth."

Half of the Long Bay plan area is owned by Landco, which is also developing the former Mt Wellington Quarry, in Auckland City.

The company wants the area to take a population 7740 people but the commissioners back the structure plan's mix of building densities to achieve 4500 to 5000 people.

The commissioners said the Landco proposal was for a conventional suburban neighbourhood subdivision on a modified landform - not dissimilar to the rest of the eastern bays.

This was not appropriate for Long Bay and the better approach was the structure plan's retention of main landforms, streams and bush areas interspersed with large lots.


Long Bay proposals

* Support for the council's structure plan because it allows development covers environmental, social, cultural and economic factors.
* Retain main landforms, streams and bush areas as a backdrop to the regional park.
* Controls on development where it risks damage to Maori heritage sites and the marine environment.
* Relocate the village commercial centre to the south side of the Vaughans Stream.
* Limit apartment blocks to 12.5 metres - down from 18 metres.