An aerial view of land, known as the horse paddock, is earmarked for development.
An aerial view of land, known as the horse paddock, is earmarked for development.
A proposed Paraparaumu subdivision’s size and location have not gone down well with nearby residents.
Gresham Trust wants to build 135 two-storey homes on a 1.9ha piece of land, commonly known as the horse paddock, at 240 Kāpiti Rd, with access via Halsey Grove.
Council’s principal resource consents planner Sarah Banks has assessed the proposal against the District Plan and the relevant Resource Management Act provisions and recommended, on balance, for the proposal to be approved subject to conditions that would mitigate effects.
An independent commissioner has now heard from all parties and is currently preparing his decision on whether the application should be approved or declined.
But the proposal, which had limited notification only for immediate neighbours, hasn’t been greeted with enthusiasm in various quarters.
He said the proposed development should have been reduced a lot.
“There’s a chart someone did once, as part of the proposal that the developer submitted, for 23 houses with a similar footprint to the surrounding area.”
He felt the 135-lot development, zoned general development, was suited to specific medium to high development zones instead.
Sangster also felt there should have been more community consultation and the council should have examined the developer’s plans more.
Trevor Anders, who lives nearby, but not inside the limited notification area, said the development’s location was “incongruous with the rest of where it’s located”.
He and others “feel very strongly that it does impact us, particularly in terms of creating traffic hazards and congestion”.
Halsey Grove entrance to a proposed development. Photo / David Haxton
“For a long period of time we’ve had this parcel of land, which is undeveloped, and you’ve had the development of a really nice community around it, and suddenly there’s this massive development proposed for the middle of it, and all channelled out through one little road (Halsey Grove), into another road on a bend (Regent Drive), which is already congested, with another road (Cedar Drive) and then all ending up at the junction with Kapiti Rd, which is just about bursting with capacity.”
Ward said vehicular left in/left out should have been allowed on the Kāpiti Rd side.
Conrad Peterson, another who lives outside of the limited notification area, said the council had a policy of “hydraulic neutrality” but he hadn’t seen it addressed, in documents he had read, or the impact on stormwater and sewage volume increase.
Banks’ report said, “Overall I consider the design and layout effects of the proposal will be less than minor.”
She noted submitters’ concerns about the intensity of the development but “in my view the proposal represents a change in the context of the surrounding area, but it achieves the appropriate visual balance between density and height because only two storeys are proposed”.
“I consider that these will be suitably set back from the adjoining neighbours on the external boundaries.
“There is a recognised housing shortage across New Zealand and because of this shortage I consider it appropriate that housing affordability is considered by supporting competitive land and development markets.
“I am of the opinion that continuing the status quo of the site would be an inefficient use of the land which is infrastructure ready.”
She noted the applicant’s traffic assessment, by Stantec Traffic Engineers, which said, “The resultant traffic generated by the activity will not materially alter the existing traffic characteristics of the local network, trigger safety concerns or create new capacity issues.”
The traffic assessment was peer-reviewed by Tonkin and Taylor Traffic Engineers, and with conditions, the “traffic effects of the proposal can be sufficiently mitigated”.
A report by hearing commissioner Lindsay Daysh was imminent.
