Rodney District Council has adopted a Structure Plan for Waimauku which will guide the development of the town over the next 20 years.
“A key aim of the Plan is to preserve Waimauku’s rural village character, which local residents have said they like about the town,” says RDC’s District Planning Manager Peter Vari.
He says Council established a stakeholder reference group and consulted widely to develop the Structure Plan.
189 submissions were received on the draft Plan. There was a high level of support for the proposals in the Plan. Residents took the opportunity to comment on the proposed growth areas identified in the Plan, and presented a variety of views on where these areas should be located and how quickly development should occur.
The Structure Plan was adopted with some minor amendments made as a result of submissions.
Mr Vari says that a key aim of the Plan is to enable Council to control where development occurs, so the village feel of the township can be retained. The limited amount of growth shown in the Structure Plan will also allow Council to concentrate major infrastructure provision in identified growth areas in the west such as Kumeu-Huapai.
The Structure Plan identifies the Waimauku Station Road area as a site for shops and office activities over the longer term. The Plan allows for limited residential expansion around southwest Waimauku over the short term. The town is expected to be connected to a public wastewater system in around 10 years time. Over the longer term, once a wastewater system is in place, the Plan allows for limited residential expansion in southeast Waimauku.
“Development around the Renall’s Hill and Cell Phone Tower Hill areas will be restricted and the rural areas surrounding Waimauku will stay rural to separate it from the neighbouring towns of Kumeu – Huapai, Muriwai and Woodhill,” he says.
The Plan also identifies a suitable location for new public toilets and for the future relocation of the train station to a site more accessible to most Waimauku residents.
The Council intends to implement the Structure Plan by progressing changes to its District Plan in stages over a number of years.
Information about the Structure Plan will be mailed to Waimauku residents within the next few weeks and will also be available at the Huapai Service Centre.
In another planning project affecting Waimauku, the “Waimauku Estate” Private Plan Change for 1,375 dwellings in and around Renall’s Hill (formerly a Cornerstone Group Ltd project, now owned by Malory Corporation) will be heard in the Environment Court in July. Rodney District Council will be defending its decision not to progress the Private Plan Change.
ENDS
Further Comment and Information:
Peter Vari
Ph 0800 4265169
peter.vari@rodney.govt.nz