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About 400 people took the opportunity to learn more about a country club styled retirement village, being proposed on Tongue Farm in Matakana, at an open day earlier this month.
The event was held in the Matakana Hall and was hosted by developer Nathan Sanderson.
Sanderson said the open day was the most positive community engagement event he had ever hosted.
“It was amazing how invested the community is in this beautiful parcel of land and how passionate they are that we complement it,” he said.
Concept plans for the project include just over 200 high-end homes, as well as a restaurant and bar; sports centre complete with club boat, paddle boards and kayaks; orchards and vegetable gardens; an arts centre and workshop; and a wellness centre. There will also be extensive wetland restoration, and some areas will be open to the general public.
A 30-bed care facility with dementia units is also part of the plan.
Issues raised at the open day included traffic, the Matakana-Omaha path, onsite water management, light spill, noise and how the development would integrate with the surrounding environment and community.
The project is currently advancing through the fast-track substantive application phase, which involves refining the design and technical work. A final planning decision is anticipated by late this year or early next year, and Sanderson says work will start as soon as consent is granted.
Tongue Farm, which sits on 76 hectares, runs for three kilometres along a peninsula down the Matakana River and is flanked by lifestyle properties.
The Sanderson family is known for its involvement in numerous retirement villages, including Omokoroa Country Club in the Bay of Plenty. However, if approved, Tongue Farm will be the second retirement country club Sanderson and wife Natasha have built independently of the wider family business.
