Westfield facing more flak over mall proposal

By ANNE GIBSON

Opponents of Westfield New Zealand's redevelopment at Pakuranga in Auckland are backing their case with an artist's impression of the revamped mall, despite Westfield having not yet applied for any building consents.

A consultant engaged by Kiwi Income Property Trust presented the Manukau City Council with a visual display of the expanded mall last week.

Neil Donnelly, a resource management consultant at planners Barker & Associates, outlined the possible scale of the mall, which is on the intersection of Ti Rakau Drive and Pakuranga Rd.

"The proposal is inappropriate and does not represent good planning practice," Mr Donnelly said.

The council also heard submissions on Westfield's bid to buy the surrounding car park and three streets, an area of 3.3ha.

Westfield general manager development, Chris McNamara, said the company had not yet lodged a resource consent for the mall, although it planned to expand the existing centre from 20,000 sq m to between 35,000 sq m and 40,000 sq m.

No applications to build on the site would be made until a decision was reached on the sale of the council land.

Mr Donnelly also complained about the lack of a development proposal from Westfield. "I am not aware of any development plans for Pakuranga having been presented to the council and there are none available as public information," he said.

"In this respect it is difficult for any party to make an accurate assessment of the potential redevelopment of the site should the road stopping and reserve revocation proceed. "There are effectively no development controls governing the scale of development on site."

Mr Donnelly has been working on Kiwi's 25ha Sylvia Park business centre.

The proposal for the Mt Wellington site is to go before the Environment Court this year.

Westfield opposes Kiwi's plans for that development, which proposes a mixed-use community employing 6000 people.

The Auckland City Council approved a rezoning there in March last year. A decision is expected in the next few weeks.