You may be aware of some green space in Whenuapai made up of approximately 360 hectares that’s currently being zoned for development, for both industrial and residential use. Until recently, the Council determined they would provide a specific plan for the area, previously known as Plan Change Five. This plan was to determine where the housing would be, among other things, including the provision of roading, water and other infrastructure that would be needed to support the development.
However, the Council have recently announced they don’t actually have money in their budget to support the development and have subsequently withdrawn Plan Change Five. The issue we now have is that the developments proposed for the area will likely go ahead anyway, as they have already been approved by central government. Sadly, this means we will end up with an incomplete development made up of ad-hoc plans that will make sense for a small area, without taking into account the needs of the wider community as a whole. Another consequence of this issue means that we risk the development being constructed by the cheapest means possible and therefore hold a lower value than it is deserving of. We also have a threat of danger to this area because there won’t be the supporting infrastructure required, due to the nature of ad-hoc planning that will take place at a later point, resulting in a disjointed development in the area.
As your local MP, I’ll do whatever I can to push back on this issue to local authorities and ensure the message I send brings to the forefront the need for better coordinated planning of our areas. As the saying goes, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Because when this happens, I know that we can achieve better outcomes for our communities.
