Big plans for Sylvia Park

High-rises could flank the mall. Photo / Kenny Rodger

A $1 billion plan could almost quadruple the size of Mt Wellington's Sylvia Park and make it a new town hub.

The country's largest mall could soon be flanked by a new mini-city of high-rise apartment and office blocks, towering over nearby motorways.

Kiwi Income Property Trust, the $1.8 billion landlord, has sought permission to build a series of towers up to 20 levels or 60m on its 24ha site.

The public has until the end of this month to voice opinions about the plan, which would put Sylvia Park into the same league as Newmarket and Onehunga as a new city centre.

The Auckland City Council is examining plans which have earmarked the site for intensive further development.

Its public transport links are the gem which means it has big growth prospects.

The site, with its own train station and motorway offramp paid for by Kiwi, is bounded by the Southern Motorway, Southeastern Highway, Carbine Rd and Mt Wellington Highway.

Kiwi has emphasised the train station and bus interchange in its planning application, saying the site is ideally served by public transport links to minimise traffic confusion.

Not everyone is delighted about the scheme, and the community board is worried the huge buildings could create traffic chaos, dominate the area and overshadow existing traditional-style low-rise housing and key road links.

The vast 71,000sq m mall will be surrounded by tall apartment and office blocks for thousands more people if Kiwi gets approval to create its new town centre - a plan it has long held for the favourably-zoned site where only 7ha of the 24ha has been built on.

The mall's 4002 carparks are mainly spread around the shopping centre on ground level but it is those vast car-parking lots which Kiwi plans to capitalise on with its development.

Kiwi has told the council it might ban workers from driving to work. It would "manage" vehicles by insisting train and bus facilities were used, it says.

April 30 is the deadline for submissions on the plans.

Tamaki Community Board chairwoman Kate Sutton said she supported new investment and jobs but was worried about the height and size of buildings envisaged to surround the low-rise mall, which is only two levels at its highest point at one end.

Traffic management, intensification, bulk, visual domination and height are among concerns the board plans to raise with Kiwi.

Kate Sutton said the community needed to see how an expanded Sylvia Park town centre might look, and called on Kiwi to supply graphics or visual images.

"It's already difficult to get a carpark there on the weekend. Residential streets are directly across from the mall and McDonald's and Redwood Group have plans to build on sites nearby.

"Our concern is the effect on traffic, particularly on the South Eastern Highway because these buildings could be well above that."

Sylvia Park's project director, Andrew Buckingham, said no images had been made.

"As this is a plan change request there are no images of how the site might ultimately look. The plan change simply creates the planning framework to enable future development, which is of course subject to resource consent."

The mall, with carparking on a large part of its rooftop, was developed beneath the Southeastern Highway.

Kiwi's plans are at Auckland City's Greys Ave office, Auckland Central Library, Otahuhu Community Library and Panmure Community Library.

Big plans:

Sylvia Park's giant expansion:

* 24ha of now mostly vacant land

* Only 7ha of mall built there now

* 250,000sq m of buildings planned

* Towering offices and apartments