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A massive development that would effectively double the size of Wellsford could be on the cards if a private plan change application is approved.
Wellsford Welding Club Ltd wants to develop at least 800 new homes and a neighbourhood retail centre on 72 hectares of land north-east of the town, bordered by the railway line and Bosher Road.
Auckland Councillors voted to accept the application at its Planning, Environment and Parks Committee on August 3, kick-starting the process for public notification, where individuals and interested parties, including council itself, will be able to make submissions on the proposal.
All private plan change applications go to the committee in the first instance, where staff recommend whether they should be adopted, accepted, rejected, or processed as a resource consent. ‘Accepting’ sits between rejecting and adopting, simply meaning it can proceed with the public notification process.
Senior policy planner Ryan Bradley said council did not have any grounds to reject the plan change, but nor was it appropriate for it to be adopted by council.
“That leaves accepting it,” Bradley said.
He said after the plan change went through a hearings process, councillors could approve or decline it, based on its merits.
Mayor Wayne Brown asked what the impact of such a big change would have on council’s planning department.
“The piece of land is in fact slightly bigger than all of Wellsford. In context, it’s a pretty big thing – I mean, it’s taken Wellsford 130 years to get to that size,” Brown said.
Chief of strategy Megan Tyler said the land had already been identified as possible development land for the future.
“It is a more reasonable density for Wellsford, as opposed to urban Auckland,” Tyler said.
Rodney Cr Greg Sayers said the developers had already begun engaging with the community, referring to a public information evening held in Wellsford in April last year.
“They have conducted some community engagement of their own volition and it has been warmly received by the community members who have attended those meetings,” Sayers said.
Cr Chris Darby asked for council staff to develop a submission on the plan change and added it should be standard practice for private plan changes.
“I think we need to send a signal to our staff to undertake the next stage,” Darby said.
He said private plan changes often had a hefty price for council, however.
“Other developments coat-tail and next thing you know, your sprawl spend is happening. It has happened for decades and it’s allowed by law. I am not saying it’s all bad, but it is very costly if you look at it,” Darby said.
Chair Richard Hills agreed to develop a submission, the content of which has yet to be decided.
The private plan change will be publicly notified within the next four months.
What’s proposed for Wellsford North
Auckland-based developer Wellsford Welding Club Limited (WWC) wants to rezone 72 hectares of farmland – known as Wellsford North – from its current combination of future urban, single house residential, rural countryside living and rural production land to a mix of residential large lot, single house and mixed housing suburban zones. There would also be a small business neighbourhood centre, plus an area of rural countryside living to the north, along Bosher Road.
The Auckland Future Urban Land Supply Strategy identifies the future urban-zoned land as being development ready from 2023-27, with potential to accommodate 832 dwellings.
WWC says its proposal avoids urbanisation of land that is subject to significant natural hazards or contains elite and prime soils.
“The private plan change provides for urbanisation that is consistent with the existing low density built character of Wellsford, while providing opportunity for increased housing capacity and choice, and hence efficient use of greenfield land,” the developer says in its application.
“The plan change area is able to be serviced by infrastructure, with appropriate upgrades in place.”
A variety of different sized residential blocks is proposed, depending on location and land topography, and pedestrian and cycleways are planned to connect the site to Wellsford town centre and the wider area.
The neighbourhood centre would be in walking distance of housing and would provide for the day-to-day needs of the local community, WWC says.
“The proposed centre is small in scale to ensure that there will be no adverse effects arising with respect to the functioning and vitality of the existing Wellsford town centre.”
WWC has drawn up a structure plan for the land, which it says would allow Wellsford North to be comprehensively developed over the next 20 years to integrate with the existing Wellsford settlement.
WWC already owns the bulk of the land affected by the proposed plan change.
