Lighthouse concept causing waves at Tern Point

BY JULIA WADE

An extraordinary building proposal, born out of a passion for coastline navigational towers, is causing waves in one of Mangawhai’s gated rural communities. 

Earthworks began in Tern Point earlier this year for a grand lighthouse close to the banks of Mangawhai’s estuary with the main feature, a tower of nearly 12 metres between two single-storey housing wings, emulating the traditional tapering design of coastline watchtowers. 

Besides being their intended retirement home, owners and creators Wendy and Stewart Beacroft, who are passionate about lighthouses and sustainable living, are hoping the building will be visually pleasing for locals and visitors alike, ‘stirring memories of days gone by and the lighthouses of old’.

Height issues
Although lighthouses are often regarded as symbols of safety and security, a light to help navigate a way through not only rough waters but troubling times, the Tern Point tower instead has become the cause of controversy. 

A number of neighbours in the community have voiced concerns over the development with the main points of contention being the height of the tower – which is nearly four metres over the eight metre District Plan maximum height rule – intruding on privacy and the precedent the ruling may set for other developments in Mangawhai. 

One Tern Point resident, who wishes to remain anonymous, says the whole process has caused tension and even ‘some nastiness’ in the small community over the three year consent process. The resident says the general feeling is the ‘visually dominating’ design has been imposed on neighbouring properties, is not in keeping with Tern Point’s rural character and regulations and is just a ‘private indulgence’. 

“The applicants brought in the big guns… and residents weren’t able to fight anymore, they were exhausted… emotionally and financially, now with the earthworks beginning, there is just a general feeling of resignation.”

Consent granted
Although Kaipara District Council’s (KDC) own consultant planner and an independent landscape expert advised against the development, a resource consent was granted by appointed independent commissioners at a hearing in 2015. 

After hearing from professionals in support of the lighthouse including an architect, landscape architect and vegetation growth specialist, the commissioners concluded the ‘consent should not be refused just because it is over the height and visible’. Conditions to build include screening of the tower from nearby neighbours with strategic planting, however residents have doubts whether the proposed  plants would thrive due to the areas soil conditions and, even if successful, trees part of the mitigation planting could possibly breach a Tern Point height clause and may have to eventually be removed. 

Another area of controversy within the consent states that if the lighthouse was not approved, an eight metre high dwelling was permitted which the independent commissioners stated could have ‘significantly greater adverse effects’ on neighbouring properties. 

“The Beacroft’s maintain that it was simply a baseline calculation of what was allowed as of right,” the Tern Point resident says. “At the hearing it certainly came across to me as an implied consequence to not attaining consent. It was a bit hard to fathom why it would be brought up except as an example of ‘bad to worse’.”

Discretion available
KDC’s General Manager for Regulatory, Planning & Policy, Fran Mikulicic says the District Plan states there is leeway to contemplate buildings that exceed the maximum height of eight metres under ‘restricted discretionary activity’, with each structure ‘considered on their merits and consent granted where appropriate’. Concerns the lighthouse sets a precedent for the erection of other tall towers around Mangawhai was also stated as ‘not a relevant matter in this case’. 

“The key point is… ‘where appropriate’, confirming that such applications will be considered on a case by case basis. Under the Resource Management Act (RMA), applications for either restricted discretionary or discretionary activities may be granted or refused… the process for consideration of resource consent applications is clearly set out in the RMA and must be adhered to… including rights of objection and appeal on decisions,” she says. “When administering the plan as consent planners we don’t have a choice as to when we use or don’t use restricted discretionary activities, the activity status is dictated by the rules of the Plan which goes through a public consultation process.”

Notification surprise
Under a limited notification involving only the 31 properties at Tern Point, 17 submissions were received with six in opposition and the 11 in support of the lighthouse’s design saying they believed the tower would complement and be an asset to Tern Point. However of those in favour, 10 out of the 11 were listed with out-of-town addresses at the time of the consent process or lived at a distance from the tower site. Although the submissions clearly show support for the lighthouse, the Tern Point resident says some people were ‘surprised and unaware’ they supposedly had given support. 

“There definitely seemed to be a minimisation of adverse effects which people only subsequently woke up to,” the Tern Point resident says. “It is central to the issue that people understood what they were agreeing to tacitly or otherwise… also whether the proposal was represented properly.”

The Focus invited the Beacroft’s several times in the last month to add comment regarding the lighthouse, however no statements were received at the time of print.

Groundwork for the Tern Point lighthouse (centre) which began earlier this year landmarks the tower location among neighbours. 

A grand 3D design: Overpowering and dominating? Or a unique, attractive asset to the area? 

“The applicants brought in the big guns… and residents weren’t able to fight anymore, they were exhausted… emotionally and financially, now with the earthworks beginning, there is just a general feeling of resignation.”
- Disgruntled Tern Point resident