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The vexed issue of wastewater disposal in Warkworth again took centre stage last week, this time at a four-day hearing into a private plan change application for land south of the town.
KA Waimanawa Limited Partnership and Stepping Towards Far Ltd want to rezone 159 hectares of future urban land, open space/conservation and rural/rural production land to a mix of urban zones, with two special precincts and a change to the rural urban boundary, north of Valerie Close and east of Pohuehue Road.
The rezoning would pave the way for nearly 1600 new homes, parks, a retail/business centre, paths, cycleways and a public transport hub, plus a special Morrison Heritage Orchard precinct to the north.
More than a dozen organisations and individuals gave evidence before the panel of three independent commissioners – chair Karyn Kurzeja, Vaughan Smith and David Mead – with Auckland Council consultant planner David Wren recommending that the application be declined due to concerns over adequate water and wastewater infrastructure.
However, the applicants stressed that since Watercare had opposed the plan change due to concerns over capacity, they were now in a position to provide a private water supply and sewerage system themselves if necessary.
Their lawyer Bill Loutit said Watercare had changed its position very late in the piece, well after the plan change was lodged, and after a considerable amount of time and money had been spent, and it was now also opposed to a private system being used.
“Private systems are common throughout the country, there are innumerable providers, they’re just not common in Auckland,” he said.
Loutit also voiced frustration that Watercare had not provided any data on whether it had enough wastewater capacity, or headroom, despite numerous requests.
Developer Peter Cooney also voiced frustration at Watercare’s about-turn, as well as at the change in council’s Future Development Strategy (FDS) in December that shifted the timing of development for Warkworth South from 2028 to at least 2040 due to infrastructure funding constraints.
“We’re one of largest developers in the country and we bring quite a bit of experience. We liaised with council for 12 months,” he said. “Watercare agreed there was capacity and we were encouraged to apply for consent. We lodged and out of the blue, Watercare objected.”
He added that the FDS was “a knee-jerk reaction”.
“This is a 10 to15 year project, we’re not going to put 1500 houses up overnight, we might be doing 100 a year if you’re lucky, so they’ve got plenty of time to solve those infrastructure issues.”
Cooney added that the fact Waimanawa was among the first 149 projects being considered for consent in the current Fast-track Approvals Bill signalled its importance to the government in getting houses built, though a plan change to rezone the land was also needed.
Watercare counsel Matthew Allan said Watercare had initially taken a neutral position on Plan Change 93 in its November 2023 submission – while it raised some concerns, it neither opposed nor supported the plan change.
However, he said it had genuine concerns over relying on private systems in such a large area of planned growth.
Head of strategy and planning Priyan Perera said Watercare was presently reassessing whether there was any available head room, but said that would take six weeks, due mainly to “risk acceptability”.
“The key risk is that all the growth materialises and how will that be managed,” he said. “We’ve got to evaluate that risk, and we have to consider broader impacts on the wider system.”
Other submitters included three families – the Wynyards, Blennerhassetts and Matches – who own 77 hectares of land between Waimanawa and Woodcocks Road, who wanted their land to be included in the plan change if it were approved, as well as the Morrison family, Rodney Local Board, One Mahurangi and the Warkworth Area Liaison Group among others.
Various concerns were raised, principally over the development being premature, housing density, flood risks, insufficient employment and connectivity issues. A proposal for future residents living within 300 metres of Avice Miller Reserve, on the eastern side of the land, to keep any pet cats fenced in also prompted questions.
Commissioner Kurzeja adjourned the hearing on November 7.
“We’re requiring the planners to undertake expert conferencing, hoping matters in contention may be able to be reduced and when we reconvene, we hope Watercare will have been able to get answers for us on if there’s any headroom,” she said.
The hearing is expected to resume early next month.
Clarification
One Mahurangi Business Association wishes to make it clear that, although listed as a submitter at the recent independent hearing into Private Plan Change 83 for Warkworth South (MM, Nov 11), it did not in fact make a submission and maintains a neutral stance on the proposed development.
