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An aerial view of Pyrus Grove by Selah Homes on Trade Me.
Land for 33 homes is being cleared.
Building should start mid-year.
Moya Drive has larger lots.
Anyone wanting a snapshot of how rapidly the Mahurangi region is expanding needs only to take a drive out to Matakana at the moment, where three major new housing developments are now well underway.
The newest and most obvious is in the 3.6-hectare former paddock opposite Matakana School, which since January has been home to a dozen or so diggers and earthmovers clearing the space for 33 new house sections.
Although the land has been zoned for single house development for many years, the sudden appearance of the digger crews came as a surprise to many locals, as the resource consent application last year was non-notifiable.
Several people voiced concerns on social media at the lack of green space in the new site, but with lot sizes of at least 800 square metres, the developer is not obliged to provide a reserve. Cabra Developments general manager Duncan Unsworth said the only way that could happen was if Auckland Council paid for a park area.
“That’s down to whether Council wants to buy it – we’re open to selling land,” he said. “Though these days people seem to be into biking and walking more than just going to a park.”
He said there would be landscaping, with a low aluminium fence and a hedge planted along Matakana Road, and ornamental pear trees planted throughout the development’s access roads – hence its name, Pyrus Grove.
The access road will be next to Wharehine and Tumbleweed Garden Centre and there will be a footpath out to Matakana Road at the eastern end.
Mr Unsworth said infrastructure construction should be finished by the middle of the year, and house building could begin by May or June, with the bulk of it underway by the end of the year.
Meanwhile, land is being cleared for Richard Didsbury’s development of 30 to 40 houses on land to the north of Laly Haddon Place, behind Jubilee Park, and homes are being constructed on nearby Moya Drive, off Matakana Valley Road. This former Penney family farmland site has been divided into 12 large lots of 1 to 1.9 hectares.
There are two remaining significant blocks of land zoned for potential single house development in Matakana Road – the Wharehine/Tumbleweed site and the paddocks either side of Matakana School.
