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The Waimanawa concept plan for land south of Warkworth. (THAB: Terrace Housing and Apartment Buildings)
A private plan change being proposed for future urban land south of Warkworth could cause traffic gridlock if it goes ahead, the Rodney Local Board has warned.
Bill and Christine Endean, who own the land including the former Ransom Wines property west of State Highway 1, and Cindy Hao, who owns a property on the eastern side of SH1, are working to produce a Warkworth South plan change for urban zoning that could see up to 1200 new homes and a series of parks along the Mahurangi River corridor, near Morrisons Heritage Orchard.
Planning consultant David Hay of Osbornehay, told the Local Board meeting on May 19 that his clients hoped to lodge the proposed plan change later this year and, if approved, it could be development ready in about three years.
Mr Hay said the Waimanawa zoning concept would involve a mix of terraced/apartment housing, mixed housing, large lots, open spaces, a sportsground, a local shopping centre, parks and reserves, with extensive walking and cycling networks.
Initial designs also show an area for a public transport interchange connected to a western collector road and southern motorway interchange. Both appear as potential transport projects in the Warkworth Structure Plan, but are yet to be prioritised for funding and delivery.
Local Board chair Phelan Pirrie said the land in question was not scheduled to be released for development for at least seven years and there was good reason for that.
“The reason this is not planned until 2028 to 2032 is because there’s no budget for an interchange in the RLTP (Regional Land Transport Plan),” he said. “The purpose of leaving it till then is because it allows budgets to be put in place, it allows time for that to happen.
“We hear from the community ‘why are we allowing housing ahead of infrastructure’. What you’re proposing is plainly that. We simply don’t have budgets available to do this work.”
Mr Pirrie cited Huapai, where he said traffic was regularly at a standstill because development had been allowed ahead of schedule.
“The consequences of bringing forward housing where there are no budgets for transport are actually considerable,” he said.
Mr Hay said traffic on SH1 would drop significantly next year when the new motorway opened, and the proposed plan change would provide an argument for bringing the southern interchange forward. It would also provide much-needed housing.
“We know Auckland lags behind with infrastructure but our traffic work so far says we need the southern interchange to serve this development,” he said.
Mr Pirrie again emphasised the dangers of bringing development forward before traffic infrastructure funding was available .
“There are other plan changes being done, more housing is coming on-stream. There’s already land in Warkworth North that’s zonable, there’s not a shortage of land zoned for housing,” he said. “If this is allowed to go ahead of the planned land release, it’s potentially putting in thousands of people going through Hill Street to get up to the new motorway and back again.”
Mr Pirrie said that if funding towards roading infrastructure could be contributed by developers, such as was happening at Milldale, it might make the proposal more attractive.
Mr Hay said he would return to update the board on progress in a couple of months.
