All go for new Papamoa suburb

It's taken 10 long years of planning - the last three locked up in legal challenges - and the road is now clear for developing the Wairakei residential community in Papamoa East, destined to house 8500 people.
Tauranga City Council this week received word that the Environment Court ruled in its favour on the final appeal - that the maximum height of the buildings in the four neighbourhood shopping centres would remain at 17.5 metres, or four to five storeys depending on stud height.
There had been a total of six appeals on the Wairakei plan, and two ended up being argued in the court.
Plan Change 44 (Wairakei Urban Development) will be presented to a full council meeting next month for sign-off, and the 360 hectares on the southern side of the Wairakei Stream to the Tauranga Eastern Link motorway will be rezoned from rural to residential.
Wairakei, virtually a new suburb, will have a green belt alongside the stream, a 13ha active reserve, 16ha of stormwater retention, 110ha of business land, and 215ha of residential involving up to 3500 dwellings ranging from standalone homes and cottages to terraced housing and apartments.
Development is expected to take 15-20 years. Wairakei - its population forecast was reduced from 12,500 to 8500 - will link up with the present Papamoa Junction industrial estate to the west and eventually the bigger Te Tumu (stage two) development to the east down to the Kaituna River.
The master plan means Papamoa East will cater for more than 20,000 people - a whole new town - as the population continues to grow over the next 40 years, though a little more slowly to begin with than earlier envisaged because of the recession. The 20,000 new residents will settle into "a live, work and play" environment, first outlined by SmartGrowth.
One of the main Wairakei landowners, Bluehaven Holdings, plans to begin development next year. The other big landowner, Hawridge Developments, could not be contacted on its timing for Wairakei.
Andy Ralph, the council's environmental policy manager, is pleased the planning process has been completed. "It's been drawn out, and we took a hard look at Wairakei over the last few years to make the plan change more realistic.
"We've worked closely with the private sector and New Zealand Transport Agency [for the motorway] to deal with the issues in a pragmatic way. Now the developers can jump the stream and start the first stage of the urban development."
The first sign of activity will occur later this year when Bluehaven builds a culvert across Wairakei Stream from Golden Sands Drive to provide access to its first stage of 500 sections.
Bill Miller, Bluehaven Management chief executive, said he would start developing the sections next year. Hawridge, according to Mr Miller, is also expected to develop an initial 500 sections.
The first stage of 1000 sections will be built closer to the stream and Papamoa Beach Rd so "we can utilise current services and water to keep infrastructure costs down".
Bluehaven is developing the nearby Excelsa Village, which is being used as an urban design model for Wairakei and features more intensive living.
The 8ha site contains 71 sections for apartments, attached and standalone two-storey cottages, and houses; a retail centre including the recently opened Four Square, a village square and neighbourhood park.
Excelsa, between Golden Sands Drive and Thompson Drive, is being designed to make it pedestrian-friendly - garages are tucked away at the back of the dwellings - and residents are within easy walking distance of the nearest convenience stores.
Classic Builders is adding 14 more sections and homes, priced from $355,000 to $398,000, on the other side of Golden Sands Drive. The Golden Sands Primary School is open and an early childcare centre is under way.
Bluehaven has sold 31 of the 37 sections in the first block at Excelsa and 22 homes have been built, with three more under way.
The developer - which started on Excelsa in late 2008 - is completing the second block of 15 sections. Titles will be issued in late May.
Bluehaven will then move on to the final 19 sections, finish the retail and medical centre, and have the smart Excelsa subdivision established within two years.
Mr Miller said homebuyers had come from England, Australia, South Africa, Auckland, Whangarei and Hamilton, as well as from other parts of Tauranga.
They were a mix of professionals and retirees. "At Excelsa we are providing a good amenity and mix of smaller housing on smaller sections so they are affordable.
"The residents can retain an upmarket lifestyle with privacy, landscaped streets, modern homes, minimum maintenance - the interactive community shows that higher density housing can work," Mr Miller said.
The sections in the second block and the unsold ones in the first block range in size from 304sq m to 533sq m and price from $129,500 to $165,000.
Excelsa is a "test case" for Wairakei by delivering an average of 15 lots per hectare and providing more intensive living under the SmartGrowth guideline which is now embedded in the regional policy statement.
Developers say most homebuyers are keen on the larger section of about 800 sq m rather than 600 sq m or smaller, and the 15 lots per hectare should be a target, not mandated.
"We need a balance of sections that are sought after by the market," said Mr Miller. "There has to be a financial reality - whatever we do has to be bankable."
Mr Ralph said the merits of delivering fewer sections per hectare could be argued through the consenting process.
"Any deviation can be considered. But having more housing in the growth areas is more cost-effective for infrastructure."