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Lifestyle block owners in a north Waikato town say they will oppose plans for high density housing in their area which they say brings "a bit of South Auckland" to the country.
The battle in Te Kauwhata reflects growing tension over section sizes north and south of Auckland as developers and some councils try to expand beyond city limits.
In the past year councils have been considering proposals to turn land into suburban sections at Waimauku, Westgate, Hobsonville, Brookby (near Flat Bush) and a canal development near Clevedon.
Now Martyn Street Properties has filed for resource management consent with the Waikato District Council and Environment Waikato to turn an unused vineyard on Travers Rd into a subdivision with 69 homes.
The site for the proposed development lies a 45-minute drive from Auckland and 35 minutes to Hamilton. It is peaceful despite the busy Te Kauwhata Rd on its fringe and State Highway 1 a few hundred metres away, with cows, sheep and horses grazing on nearby lifestyle blocks.
But residents living there said the "Auckland shoeboxes" proposed in the development were out of character with the average property, most of which were at least 10 times bigger than the proposed 600sq m sections.
David Owen's 7500sq m property would neighbour the development, which the Waikato District Council last year rezoned as residential.
He said he was "not at all" opposed to development in general but the proposal would be akin to "having a bit of high-density South Auckland in the country".
Other housing developments in the township, one of which overlooks a rubbish tip and sewerage ponds, weren't proving popular and several homes in the area were still empty.
"Auckland developers have bought up so much land in the Auckland area they've got nowhere to buy and nowhere to make their money," said Mr Owen.
"So they're coming down into the small villages like Te Kauwhata and are putting in these high-density subdivisions."
His neighbour, Andrew Kerr, doubted whether the development's stormwater drainage system would cope and feared the already flood-prone road would be subject to further stormwater run-off.
"They're saying this system will take a one-in-a-hundred-year flood, but these floods aren't happening every hundred years," he said, showing photographs of nearby properties swamped by the constant deluge earlier this year.
There were further concerns about an apparent lack of footpaths on Te Kauwhata and Travers Rds and probable traffic congestion at the nearby State Highway 1 intersection.
But Whangamarino ward councillor George Vickers said the development was "the inevitable result of any township ... that's expanding".
"There's no question of if it's going to happen, it's certainly going to happen."
He understood residents' concerns but said the council had to encourage growth and the developer was acting within the law.
"People want to come and live here because it's a nice little country town," he said
Martyn Street Properties director, Mark Auld, would not comment yesterday.
Submissions to the Waikato District Council close on October 1.
