Intensive development to hit rural areas

Rules governing 80 per cent of Whangarei's landmass are under review and that could lead to more intensive development in some rural areas.

A consultation process with rural residents is about to begin on the four-year review of the district's rural land.

The review has seen the Whangarei District Council produce seven proposed zones, replacing the existing Countryside and Coastal Countryside environments. These environments comprise 218,000ha of the district's 280,000ha area.

The new rules - based around which activities required resource consent - sought to protect primary industry, while providing for increased demand in lifestyle blocks and the growth at townships, like Hikurangi, Parua Bay and Waipu.

Full details of the changes, including maps, will be released on August 10, with more than 20,000 residents to receive a mail-out about which ones would affect their properties.

Industries, including the Fonterra Dairy Factory and Croft Timber at Kauri, and Portland's Golden Bay Cement, would be rezoned based on their needs, including a removal of traffic limitations. This would be called the Strategic Rural Industry Environment.

Another zone, the Rural Urban Expansion Environment took in 807ha of city fringe where residential living had begun creeping into the country, including space around Vinegar Hill, Three Mile Bush, Whau Valley, Abbey Caves, and Toe Toe and Austin roads. Here, more intensive development could take place where sewage systems allowed.

More land around Maunu, Tikipunga and Kamo would be zoned for living. The council was also tightening up the rules around coastal protection and "outstanding" landscapes as part of the 40-day consultation beginning on August 10.

A council spokeswoman said the WDC was expecting a "huge" amount of feedback.