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The apartment blocks planned for a prominent site in Stanmore Bay have been substantially redesigned following community feedback.
Over the years there have been a number of residential apartment designs proposed for the site, on the corner of Brightside Road and Ozone Road (behind Whangaparāoa New World) – first by developer Rick Martin and currently by former Conservative Party leader Colin Craig, director of Ozone Ltd, in his first foray into property development.
Ozone Ltd has owned the vacant 4012sqm site behind the supermarket since 2016.
None of the designs found much favour with the community and nothing has happened on the site since Ozone Ltd’s plan for three six-storey blocks, incorporating 61 apartments, was made public by Hibiscus Matters in 2018.
The size and bulk of that design caused a public outcry.
The principal issue for the community, also raised by Auckland Council planners, was that the proposed blocks were totally out of scale with neighbouring low-rise residential homes. Despite this, the plans were granted resource consent by Council, without public notification, as the site had Special Housing Area status. (Special Housing Areas, put in place by Council to fast-track development, have since been disestablished.)
However, Craig says he heard the community’s feedback on Hibiscus Matters’ story, loud and clear.
In response, Ozone Ltd went back to the drawing board and sent in a revised resource consent application to Council at the end of May.
“This reduced scheme is in direct response to community reaction to the taller consented six level buildings,” the new application says.
The latest scheme has halved the height to three storeys. A total of 57 two-bedroom units is now envisaged, just four less than the earlier plan – this has been achieved by adding an entire new block, bringing the total number of blocks to four.
Sixteen car parking spaces are proposed, along with 40 bicycle spaces.
The application states that the proposed development “will significantly enhance the streetscape through the erection of quality designed buildings… and create a landmark feature along the transport route…”
Craig says he is happy with the new plan, although the final exterior colour is likely to be more neutral than depicted in the architectural drawings.
Council planners are currently assessing the application. Ozone Ltd has requested that it be granted without public notification but that decision rests with Council staff.
