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The plan suggests that the principles of “adding significant residential development to malls”, shown in this planned development for Milford Mall, could apply, on a much smaller scale, to Coast Plaza.
Guidelines for the future development of Whangaparāoa’s town centre were adopted by the Hibiscus & Bays Local Board at its meeting last December.
The Whangaparāoa Town Centre Plan was released as a draft for public feedback a year ago (February 14, 2018). It was commissioned by the Hibiscus & Bays Local Board from former Rodney District Council planner Jason Evans of ET Urban Design. The local board approved funding of $25,000 for the work in 2016.
The plan covers the area along Whangaparāoa Road from New World to the commercial area east of Wade River Road.
The plan says that minimal development has taken place within Whangaparāoa Town Centre since the 1980s and the centre “is perceived as being tired, disconnected from the residential neighbourhoods and at risk of losing important retailers to Silverdale”.
The elephant in the room, because of its key location in the town centre, is Coast Plaza. The plan notes that: “the inward facing nature of Coast Plaza means that surrounding streets struggle to achieve any real visual and experiential quality for pedestrians. It suggests “encouraging and supporting the owners of the Coast Plaza to investigate ways to improve the relationship and attractiveness of buildings that define pedestrian spaces”.
There are currently proposals for both external and internal refurbishment of Coast Plaza but no details are available to the paper as yet.
A new public space linking the library with Coast Plaza is suggested in the Town Centre Plan, along with a reduction in car parking to make it more pedestrian-friendly. Again with pedestrians in mind, a low speed zone on Whangaparāoa Road between Link Crescent and Wade River Road is also proposed.
The plan also supports the redevelopment of Whangaparāoa Hall into a modern, multi-function community space.
Town centre plans for Silverdale and Orewa have been already completed. They are non-statutory, but are used to guide Auckland Council’s decision-making as the area develops.
