Green belt feels strain

Farmland is under pressure west of Massey as property owners seek permission to break up their lots for housing. Joanna Davies reports.

This far from the central city, there's not much in the way of traffic jams or suburban sprawl. In the upper reaches of the former Waitakere City, there are big, empty plots of land and pockets of native bush.
That's how some locals like it. It's quiet out here. The busiest local centre is Waitakere village and most of the noise comes from the bubbling Pakinui Stream.
It would be the last place to expect a subdivision, but a private plan change 10 years in the making is before Auckland Council. It could allow 180ha of farmland and bush, between Sunnyvale, McEntee and Amreins Rds, to be divided.
An extra 65 houses could be added, on top of the 34 that already stand.
One of the landowners behind the Pakinui Structure Plan change is Ron Henderson. He's lived out here for 24 years.
"Basically, what we've got here is a whole lot of landowners with large properties," he says.
"We've been looking at going through the process of subdividing it for 10 years, but there's a property in there that has a caveat on it so it cannot be built on, and that will stay as native bush."
Mr Henderson says there are plans for a kiwi reserve to offset any development.
"What we're looking at is subdividing, but not so every Tom, Dick and Harry can have three-quarter acre blocks. The landowners are all still going to live here, so we are applying for consent to come down to a minimum of two-and-a-half acres."
Mr Henderson says he has consulted local residents about the proposal.
"People have said to me that they are worried we are going to build all these houses all over the place and lots of high-rises. That is not going to happen. What we are doing is giving the landowners an opportunity to subdivide if they want to. I think it will be quite some time before any houses are built out here."
Stuart Bracey, a senior planner at Boffa Miskell, which is working with the landowners, says there will be extra planting along Pakinui Stream to cope with stormwater.
"About 75ha of the 180 has been put aside and won't be used for residential or rural purposes," he says.
The first round of submissions on the proposal has just closed, but Auckland Council says more will be done before a hearing.
The Aucklander asked the council for a spokesman to comment on the plan change, but senior communications advisor John Evans would not name anyone. Instead, he provided comment from an unnamed spokesman stating the plan change will follow the normal Resource Management Act process.
"Once the submission period has closed, officers will do a summary of submissions which will be advertised for further submissions. Once that period has closed, officers will prepare a hearings report and a hearing will be held.
"At this stage, we're not in a position to make further comment on this particular, private, plan change."
Birdwood blocked
A proposed subdivision in Birdwood, near Massey, has been stopped. The owners of 39 Chamberlain Rd proposed to build 27 houses in a new development, but after submissions and a survey of land, consent was declined.