One Mahurangi – Growth challenges

One Mahurangi had an interesting meeting with Mayor Wayne Brown recently. Brown seemed impressed with the collaborative approach adopted by the association and other community groups in our region, so much so that he suggested that we hold a workshop with Auckland Transport extolling the virtues of community engagement and how we have achieved it. More recently, two events have occurred that could have major implications for our future development.

The first is Auckland Council’s draft Auckland Future Development Strategy. It is proposing a slowing down of development in Warkworth by delaying the live zoning of the Future Urban Zones. An example of this would be Warkworth North delayed from 2018-2022 until 2035+. We suspect that the main driver of the delays is that council is unable to provide the necessary infrastructure to support these developments to the original timetable. The only problem is that some of the developments proposed to be delayed are already underway.

The situation is in a mess and there is an urgent need for council, and its various agencies, such as Auckland Transport and Watercare, developers and the community to collaborate to create rational development plans for the future that incorporate balanced housing, and commercial and industrial development with the provision of infrastructure in a timely and cost-effective way. One Mahurangi is coordinating a detailed response to these draft proposals involving planners, engineers, developers and community groups calling for rational planning processes and effective community engagement.

The second issue involves the lodgement by the Supporting Growth Alliance (SGA) of Notices of Requirement (NOR) for a number of future infrastructure projects. These lodgements seem to have been undertaken with undue haste given that council is trying to slow down development.

We know that many landowners have been affected by these NORs and many are dismayed by the consequent constraints on their land use and land valuation. The details of the NORs can be challenged in hearings planned for November and in the meantime, One Mahurangi will continue to consult with SGA to seek mitigation of the extent of the NORs, and will encourage and provide support guidelines to landowners who wish to challenge the NORs in court.

In the meantime, we, along with Roger Williams, are continuing regular meetings with Auckland Transport to finalise an acceptable detailed design for Hill Street. We are making progress, albeit at a snail’s pace.

Other issues that we are involved with include the alignment of the wastewater line through the town centre, location of the new primary school, more cost-effective upgrading of unsealed roads, road safety measures in the town centre, and public transport/on demand transport services for Warkworth and environs, and the redesign of the Sharp Road/Matakana Road intersection.

Much of the work is unseen, but there are a number of people within both the association and the wider community, such as Roger Williams, of the Warkworth Area Liaison Group, who are putting in huge numbers of hours to address these issues. For that, One Mahurangi says a big thank you to everyone involved. It reflects the great community that we have in Warkworth.