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The recently-elected chair of the business group Destination Orewa Beach (DOB), Shane Hartley has a vision of Orewa as a vibrant beachside community – a good place to do business and relax, whether you are a local or a visitor. He thinks the town is well on its way to realising this vision, but better transport and parking options must be addressed sooner rather than later, as he explained to Jannette Thompson ….
I bought an electric bike earlier this year and have often commuted from Gulf Harbour to work in Orewa. Depending on traffic, it is almost quicker than the car and it costs around $1 a week. It’s a great way to travel because it puts you back in touch with what’s around you, it’s healthier and obviously better for the environment. If we want the area to be more relaxed, then slowing the traffic and giving pedestrians and cyclists safe ways to get around are crucial. I’m encouraged by Auckland Council’s draft Orewa Centre Plan which has a lot of good proposals that are consistent with our aims for development, parking and cycling/pedestrian improvements. DOB is actively encouraging its implementation.
New Plymouth may have had an influence on my town planning perceptions. I grew up there, where Dad was a fireman and my grandfather was the New Plymouth Fire Chief. We lived in the middle of town and got used to hearing Dad get up in the middle of the night to answer the call of the siren. In the morning, we’d often wake to a strong smell of smoke in the house as he’d always leave his boots and uniform at the bottom of the stairs. New Plymouth was quite an advanced provincial town in many ways, with its parks, cycleways, museums and civic facilities. My parents and brother still live there, and I enjoy going back to visit.
I started an Arts degree in political studies and history at Auckland University in 1976. I didn’t really know what I wanted to do at that stage, but thought that an Arts degree would give me a good grounding for a career, perhaps in government or journalism. There were fewer career options in those days. When I finished, I took a year off and joined the NZ Dairy Board in the product logistics department. Our job was to get the product from the factories to the ships, and it was a bit like a 3D game of chess. I enjoyed it, but couldn’t see myself doing it for the rest of my life. The idea of being a town planner/urban designer had interested me by then so I went back to university. After getting my degree, I accepted a position with the small planning team at Rodney County Council. Sir Gordon Mason was Mayor, Warkworth and Helensville still had individual boroughs, and we even covered Great Barrier Island for a few years. Through the 1990s, we did the first round of township structure plans. They were simple, inexpensive and effective documents that I think have stood the test of time. Plus, they were produced in about a year whereas today it takes at least two or three years.
After nearly 20 years with Council, it was time to move on. After a short spell in the city, I set-up my own company Terra Nova in Orewa with a partner who has since retired. It was a chance to work at the sharp end of planning, mainly for private developers and residents, and occasionally councils. We’ve also done policy work for companies such as Federated Farmers, which is very enjoyable as it involves environmental policy development throughout NZ. We’ve grown into a medium sized planning firm and most of our work is north of the harbour bridge. My daughter joined us after completing an environmental planning degree a couple of years ago and it’s great having her as part of the team. My partner Jenny and I have four daughters and four grandchildren between us, so life is busy even away from the office.
One aspect of planning that’s close to my heart is innovative rural design and I’m proud of the fact that we were instrumental in getting the idea of rural hamlets into the District Plan. To me, housing clusters in a rural setting are a great alternative to countryside living. To be viable today, a farm needs to be at least 300 to 400 hectares. What we’re often seeing on the small land holdings is an influx of entrepreneurs, who can make two or three hectares just as productive per hectare as traditional farms. Another project we were involved in was the design of what is effectively a new city, based at Marsden Point. It hasn’t happened yet, but the area has logistic and location advantages, and I’m sure it will happen eventually, especially as Auckland fills up and gets more expensive.
As anyone who reads a newspaper knows, the drastic shortage of affordable housing is probably the single biggest issue confronting Auckland at the moment. It’s something of a failure of our planning processes that the options for our younger people, or those on lower incomes especially, are very limited. I hear business owners in Rodney who can’t get workers because local housing is unaffordable. When that happens, then we’ve got it wrong. There is no doubt that higher density living is the way to go for many people. But to encourage needed development means you can’t have rules that are too restrictive or dictate too much. It forces people into expensive, high risk and time-consuming planning processes. When you think back to the Cornerstone project at Waimauku, which was put forward as a private plan change and knocked back by Council, it was quite an exciting and visionary plan. It was located on a rail line and included a diversity of housing. But, unfortunately, it was probably just ahead of its time.
There’s possibly been too much focus on limiting people’s options on the grounds of perceived quality of life, landscape and rural land concerns. As a result, higher density proposals or extensions into rural areas have been difficult over the last decade or two. And it’s caught up with us now. I think we are beginning to address this in the Unitary Plan. There’s a need to simplify the rules and move away from the mentality of protecting our patch, to be more inclusive. It’s time to accept that higher density housing is a reality and focus more on getting quality outcomes.
I’ve been on the board of DOB for about five years and taking on the chair, vacated by Jonathan Rigg, was just a matter of recognising that you can’t always expect others to do the job. Going forward, I see it as a two-pronged approach – there’s the physical development and spatial growth, and there’s also the vitality of the area. DOB staff, Hellen and Gayle, have been doing a fantastic job of attracting events to Orewa but there is still more to do. I’d like to see the planned boulevard, from Centreway Road to West Hoe, completed and I believe we need to encourage the redevelopment of central Orewa. I’m not suggesting a wall of high rise buildings but there does need to more residential choice, particularly for young people, so a range of apartment sizes is essential. A denser population of mixed age groups in the town will mean a more vibrant town and a greater range of small shops. The biggest limitation on growth on the Hibiscus Coast at the moment is the lack of necessary investment by Council in infrastructure such as wastewater and stormwater services.
Orewa is such a beautiful place with its beach, cafes and walkways, we don’t have anything to fear from the growth in Silverdale. In fact, what’s happening at Silverdale/Millwater complements Orewa and visa versa. We need to focus on making the commercial area an even safer and more inviting space by reducing traffic speeds, improving pedestrian and cycling safety, and encouraging quality apartment development. That will really make the town buzz.
