Map of the Mangawhai Central Development
Residents’ group Mangawhai Matters has lodged an appeal in the Environment Court against private plan change 78, which permits the construction of hundreds more houses at a development in Mangawhai.
It is anticipated Viranda’s Mangawhai Central development, located on 130ha of land between Mangawhai Village and Mangawhai Heads, will accommodate more housing, a town square, supermarket, hardware store, petrol station, retail shops and light industrial buildings.
Other possibilities touted by the developer include recreational facilities, a school, retirement accommodation, a hotel and a medical centre.
The plan change was adopted by Kaipara District Council on April 28 on the recommendation of a panel comprising two independent commissioners and the deputy mayor.
Mangawhai Central estimates the development will accommodate 1000 dwellings – 500 more than permitted in the District Plan.
In its notice of appeal, Mangawhai Matters says the increase was justified on the basis that the Mangawhai Spatial Plan (MSP) supports urban and residential intensification.
But the group says the MSP remains an “aspirational document” that “does not necessarily reflect the carrying capacity of the Mangawhai locality with reference to the three waters (drinking water, wastewater and stormwater), transport requirements, community assets, natural values and funding ability”.
Mangawhai Matters further argues that the Commissioners accepted a historical estimate of household size (2.5 persons) rather than estimates based on recent growth (2.9 persons).
As a consequence, they had significantly underestimated the population demands on the natural environment, existing infrastructure and amenities.
To address these concerns, Mangawhai Matters’ proposals include increasing the minimum section size to 600sqm in the Residential 3A zone and capping the number of new dwellings at 850.
It further proposes all reticulated residential sites provide a minimum of 25 cubic metres of on-site water storage capacity and 50 cubic metres at non-reticulated sites.
