Counting down to a car park?

Living opposite a supermarket may seem the ultimate convenience but, for Astrid Modrow and Rob Dexter, living near Countdown on Dominion Rd is far from it.

They are already fed up with delivery trucks arriving at 5am on Sundays. Their neighbours endure pungent odours wafting over the supermarket's fence.

"The neighbours who live behind the supermarket have told me it's like living next to a factory. They ring council and are told it's a food authority issue. Finding the right person and getting action is like zero," says Mrs Modrow.

Now the couple has been alerted to plans by Progressive Enterprises, Countdown's owner, to request a rezone of the area next to the supermarket from residential zone 6A to a business zone 2.

The Auckland Council and Melanesian Trust own the block of land. Residents were told the change was being sought so a car park could be built for Countdown customers. To do this, the council and trust would have to knock down two houses, and a block of Art Deco flats, which residents believe should be heritage protected.

Mr Dexter and Mrs Modrow are concerned that if the area is rezoned, anything from a gas station to a pub could be built outside their window.

Eden Park Neighbours Association chair Mark Donnelly is also concerned.

"From a local point of view, once you see commercial blocks expanding out, where does that stop? Ultimately, will it feed down to Ewington Rd, opposite the Salvation Army? It will affect the value of surrounding land because it's right next to residential. There are quite a few potential environmental impacts ... people already complain about the noise," he says.

"People rely on the district plan, so to change it is a very major step. It goes against 20 years of planning. Residents have made decisions and bought here based on the zoning."

"Businesses are building up profits, while all homes are being devalued," says Mr Dexter, noting that a number of car parks already in the shopping centre are hardly used. He asks why Progressive doesn't take these on.

Progressive Enterprises' submission to the council did not outline exactly what the land would be used for: "The actual nature of development on the properties once they have been rezoned has not yet been confirmed."

Progressive Enterprises spokesman Luke Schepen also could not confirm whether a car park was the ultimate intention should the area be rezoned.

Nor would he discuss the contractual agreement Progressive Enterprises has with Auckland Council. He told The Aucklander it was "commercially sensitive".

He did confirm the company owns three homes on Ewington Rd, which The Aucklander observed were run down. Mr Schepen would not comment on plans for them.

Auckland Council manager of operative plans, Warren Maclennan, says further information from Progressive Enterprises has been requested.

"The plan-change request is only to rezone the land. It does not deal with the removal of the residential buildings at this time. However, as part of the council's assessment of the plan change, the effects of the rezoning on residential neighbours, the streetscape, any heritage values and the wider environment will all be considered."

He says resource consents will still need to be gained for a car park, if the area was rezoned as business 2 through a private plan change.

That would also require public submissions.

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Map shows proposed extension in brown rectangle.