Commissioners hear community concerns over Mangawhai Central development plan change

JULIA WADE

Water, wastewater, traffic, and number and density of lots were core issues raised at the recently held Mangawhai Central (MC) Private Plan Change 78 (PC78) Estuary Estates hearing, which concluded with council staff sent away to do some more homework.

The three-day commissioner hearing held from November 23-25 at Mangawhai Domain attracted a strong community presence with locals backing newly-formed watchdog group, Mangawhai Matters (MM).

Also in attendance were Kaipara District Council (KDC) officers and council’s contracted planners, MC representatives as well as experts and lawyers from all parties, and the KDC appointed hearing panel; independent hearing commissioners Greg Hill (chair), David Hill and councillor/deputy mayor Anna Kurnow, who is also a qualified commissioner, although during the hearing she has to take off her ‘council hat’.

After considering all evidence presented by MC and MM, along with private submissions including a recently-discovered 2019 report challenging the longevity of Mangawhai’s wastewater scheme, commissioners concluded the hearing by requesting specific written information from KDC officers in relation to the district’s Long-Term Plan of infrastructure, and funding for Mangawhai’s wastewater and water supply: ‘What is the infrastructure planning being undertaken - about whether or not there is disposal capacity or potential capacity in the existing wastewater scheme or an alternative scheme and whether or not there is sufficient water supply/security - to accommodate further development within Mangawhai including the additional capacity that would be enabled should PC78 be approved?’ demanded the commissioners.

The information must be in line with the ‘National Policy Statement on Urban Development’s 30 year time horizon’ (which ensures local authorities enable housing and business developments to grow and change in step with community needs and there is infrastructure to meet that development) and provided to the commissioners in two weeks, by December 16.

Counsel for MM, barrister Michael Savage, addressed MC’s late alterations to the PC78 of an Old Waipu Road connection and reticulated water supply, stating that

the two additions were not part of the notified proposal, were ‘out of scope of the plan change’ and asked council’s counsel ‘to please address the matter’.

He stated: “As a consequence, potentially affected people have not had the opportunity of submitting on those matters. Access to Old Waipu Road was opposed at the time of the original Estuary Estate plan change and resulted in the road link being deleted. The water reticulation system may well have implications for third parties who have not had the opportunity to consider it.”

The commissioners have also granted a request from MC’s counsel to file extra ‘supplementary evidence’ from expert witnesses, ‘not for the purpose of providing new evidence… but intending to provide further information regarding matters raised at the hearing, to assist the panel and the parties to understand the conclusions reached by the above experts, and/or to clarify certain matters...’ which must be provided by December 18.

The next PC78 hearing is set for early February 2021 and the commissioners then have two months to make their decision.

Mangawhai Matters chair Doug Lloyd says the organisation is happy with the hearings process, saying ‘all we can do now is wait’.

“The submissions and presentations opposing the development were extremely good and the commissioners admitted to being impressed… they asked some very pertinent questions,” he says. “It has been a massive project over a very short time, a huge thank you to the Mangawhai Matters team, individual submitters, and to those who have supported us and contributed to make it possible… we live in a very special community.”
 

FURTHER READING...... Commissioners hear community concerns over Mangawhai Central development plan change Water, wastewater, traffic, and number and density of lots were core issues raised at the recently held Mangawhai Central (MC) Private Plan Change 78 (PC78) Estuary Estates hearing. Mangawhai Matters updates following the recent PC78 hearing The Planning Commissioners’ task is to hear the evidence relating to the effects of allowing the extent and form of development proposed under PC78 to go ahead and to recommend to the Council whether or not it should go ahead. Wastewater: A conflict of facts One of the most bizarre and unsettling aspects of the Plan Change 78 hearing was the issue of the capacity of the Mangawhai Wastewater Sewerage Scheme (MCWWS) and its ability to accommodate the proposed loading from Mangawhai Central. MDL Civil, moving heaven and earth An impressive display of engineering and excavation has been seen along Molesworth Drive for the last few months as the MDL Civil crew, armed with heavy machinery, prepare the site and lay foundations for the area’s new township, Mangawhai Central (MC).  Kaipara District Council responds to WSP As the hearing is currently adjourned Kaipara District Council cannot comment on the hearing itself, however council’s GM Infrastructure Services manager, Jim Sephton, responded to questions around the WSP report in the following statement:

Mangawhai Central’s PC78 independent commissioner hearing; three days of evidence, questions and submissions supported by a strong crowd of locals. PHOTO/JULIA WADE

‘What is the infrastructure planning being undertaken to accommodate further development within Mangawhai… should PC78 be approved?’

- Commissioners