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Auckland Council public hearings on eight Notices of Requirement relating to transport routes around Warkworth got underway on Monday and are scheduled to run until November 22.
The hearings at the Warkworth Town Hall began with the “requiring authority”, Auckland Transport, presenting its legal case for designations to protect the routes for future transport corridors and upgrades.
Statements from several dozen submitters are set to be heard later this week and early next week. Submitters include individual and corporate landowners whose properties are impacted, directly or indirectly, by the designations.
The eight proposals are:
NoR1: A public transport hub in north Warkworth and the northern end of the Western Link, including a proposed bridge crossing
NoR2: Upgrading of a western section of Woodcocks Road, from Evelyn Street to the new Puhoi-Warkworth motorway
NoR 3: Upgrading of the southern portion of Old SH1, roughly from The Grange to just south of Valerie Close
NoR4: Upgrading of Matakana Road, from the Hill Street intersection to the rural-urban boundary, a short way past the new roundabout near Clayden Road
NoR5: Upgrading of Sandspit Road, from the Hill Street intersection to the eastern rural-urban boundary
NoR6: The southern portion of a Western Link, from Evelyn Street, skirting the light industrial area and meeting up with the Old SH1 where it intersects McKinney Road
NoR7: A new road linking Matakana Road (at the roundabout where Matakana Road meets the new Matakana Link Road) and Sandspit Road, with separated cycle lanes and footpaths
NoR8: The northern portion of an envisaged wider Western Link, running south of Woodcocks Road (near the new motorway) to the Mahurangi River
Auckland Transport is seeking time lapses ranging between 15 years in the case of NoRs 2,3 and 4, 20 years for NoRs 1,6 and 8, and 25 years for NoRs 5 and 7. This means that if council accepts the designations and includes them in the Auckland Unitary Plan (AUP), they will remain in place unless not effected within 15, 20 or 25 years respectively.
On the opening day of the hearings, Auckland Transport lawyers disclosed that council’s reporting officer favours shorter time lapses – 15 years for NoR5, and 10 years for all the rest.
But the AT lawyers argued that the time lapses it is seeking are appropriate, citing uncertainty about when envisaged growth will happen, arising in part from the economic and political climate.
“We think it’s important to be honest with communities around the potential of when these projects may be delivered.”
The lawyers said that shortening a time lapse would not mean that a particular project moves up the prioritisation list.
The last two days of the hearings are set aside for council’s closing statements and for AT’s right of reply. Once the hearings are over, council will make a recommendation as to whether or not each designation should be confirmed in the AUP – with or without modification to the conditions – or be withdrawn.
Submitters may appeal council’s decision, and appeals will be lodged with the Environment Court.
Chairing the hearings in Warkworth is Richard Blakey, a planner and member of council’s hearing commissioner panel. The other panel members are Mark Farnsworth and Vaughan Smith.
See earlier stories:
Warkworth route protection proposals: Hearings planned (September 11, 2023)
Transport hub near Pak’n Save disputed (September 25, 2023)
Land owners contemplate personal cost of road plan (October 9, 2023)
Roading impacts on family land causing frustration, trepidation (October 23, 2023)
Proposed Matakana Road upgrade impacts dozens of properties (November 6, 2023)
