Sign In / Register
The residential development at Melia Place, Whangaparāoa, on land formerly owned by the Hibiscus Coast Community RSA, has caused issues for nearby residents, who have experienced months of disruption.
Melia Development is developing its 1.826ha site, and has resource consent to build 59 townhouses there.
The little residential street was impacted initially by vibrations from a compactor, which shook the walls of the home owned by the Carlisle family.
Phil Carlisle says the compactor was only around 20 metres from his baby’s bedroom.
“The noise was horrendous, the shuddering caused pictures to fall off the walls and there are new cracks in our house,” he says.
He says the ongoing earthworks resulted in numerous calls to Noise Control. He also complained to Auckland Council, saying the contractor was working outside the hours permitted in the resource consent issued to developer Melia Development.
He approached the on-site team, but says the language barrier was a challenge and the problem persisted, with the earthworks also coating the outside of his home in dust.
Trucks three point turning into his driveway caused the concrete to split.
“The developer came around and said he would get us a free house wash, but that has not happened,” Carlisle says.
Auckland Council’s environmental monitoring manager, Robert Laulala, confirms that the council has received complaints from a neighbour relating to issues including noise, vibration and construction traffic management at the site. “We empathise with the complainant over these disruptions and have reminded the site manager of their consent conditions regarding hours of operation and noise, noting that we will take enforcement action if there is continuous non-compliance,” Laulala says. “ We have encouraged the complainant to continue reporting excessive noise to council when it is occurring beyond consented hours.”
A complaint relating to vehicle access movement conditions in the consent, was also received, however Laulala says vehicle access conditions do not apply at the earthworks stage of development, so no enforcement is possible.
“Regardless, we have brought concerns about the movement of trucks along Melia Place and lack of road signage to the attention of the site manager.
He says council continues to monitor the site to ensure the site manager is meeting their obligations under the Auckland Unitary Plan and the conditions of their consents.
Melia Development spokesperson Jackie Li says the company never wants to have unhappy neighbours to its sites.
“Our construction manager has been in regular contact with neighbours to resolve any concerns and will continue to do so out of goodwill going forward,” he says.
Depending on the weather, the company anticipates completing the current civil work in the coming weeks.
