My Account
Kaipara District Council has heard a preliminary presentation from prospective developers of a 27-hectare block of land on the south-eastern side of the Mangawhai estuary, on the corner of Black Swamp Road and Raymond Bull Road.
Cabra Developments general manager Duncan Unsworth said the company hoped ultimately to subdivide the land for medium and low intensity residential, and some commercial and retail development, possibly in conjunction with a piece of separately-owned adjacent land, of around 30 hectares.
“We see it as an opportunity to grow Mangawhai on the other side of the estuary, with a couple of reasonably-sized pieces of land,” Unsworth told the council. “What we don’t want to see happen is ad-hoc development around Mangawhai. So we see this as a good opportunity to plan for the future.”
Mangawhai is one of the fastest growing areas in the country.
Unsworth said the land in question was strategically located, with the potential for taking some of the pressure off Mangawhai, as well as allowing for more estuary and coastal access from the south.
“We don’t want people to be scared by seeing this big 60-hectare or whatever it is piece of land out here and it’s all going to be developed today,” he said, adding that the envisaged project would run over 10 or 15 years. “It’s not something that’s just suddenly going to be hundreds of houses that pop up.
“We want to work with council to achieve good outcomes in terms of infrastructure, some amenities, cycleways [and] walkways.”
Asked about the higher-density residential proposals, Unsworth said what was envisaged were sites of around 500-plus square metres – “not apartments or anything like that”. The likely number of homes across the two sites would be around 600.
Councillor Rachael Williams asked about roading infrastructure, and the potential effect of an extra 600 homes on traffic, especially given congestion entering Mangawhai along Insley Street in peak season and holiday time.
Warkworth planner Burnette O’Connor, who was also involved in the presentation, said that any rezoning, whether through a private plan change application or via a submission through the District Plan process, would need to be “supported by an integrated traffic assessment that looks at the wider area – how everything’s functioning, from [the] State Highway, where traffic flows go, what the impact of this are on the local and wider roading network. We’d need to work out exactly what upgrades would be required.”
O’Connor was also asked about the site’s moisture levels.
“We’ve had ecologists walking all over,” she said. “There’s nothing on the site that classifies as a natural inland wetland. There were no particular ecological features that are of significance.”
