Protest stacks up over high rises

The possibility of the high-rise end of Mount Maunganui ending up resembling Australia's Surfers Paradise is looking less likely after a succession of high-powered submitters urged Tauranga City Council to tread carefully on controversial planning changes.
Hong Kong-based town planner Phil Black urged the council to delay making a decision on late changes to proposed height controls.
Mr Black, who has an apartment in the Mount Royale complex, said the issue was about what sort of character and environment the council wanted at the Mount.
He felt so passionate about the issue that he made a special trip home just to put his views personally to yesterday's council hearing.
Mr Black said the Mount was unique in restricting its high-rise zone to the spine of the isthmus, rather than along the beachfront like the rest of the world's beach spots.
"We should make sure we keep that central spine of high rise."
Another submitter, the Sandy Walker group's James Gray, said the proliferation of high rises threatened to alter the character of the coast and make it look more life Surfers Paradise.
Mr Gray said there was not enough protection of the beach landscape from Mauao to the Kaituna.
"More high rises in the area between Mauao and Hopukiore (Mt Drury) would add to the already disgraceful situation of a concrete jungle despoiling this area," he said.
Councillors came under relentless pressure yesterday from residents seeking stricter planning controls, as opposed to the proposed "discretionary" rules which opponents say risked seeing the existing high-rise zone spread across the entire width of the isthmus.
The council was not proposing to change the high-rise zone which stretches down each side of Maunganui Rd to Commons Ave. The issue was how much the rules for the remainder of the block should allow for the possibility of further high-rise developments by determined developers.
It generated so much public concern that the council commissioned Hamilton-based town planner John Olliver to review height controls.
Mr Olliver, assisted by landscape architect David Mansergh, proposed a stepped approach to building heights out to Marine Parade and Pilot Bay, with an absolute height limit of 9m on the outer strip of housing.
Council planning staff have recommended adopting the approach suggested by Mr Olliver. It meant maximum heights in the areas outside the high-rise zone would remain at 9m, but with the discretion for council to permit building heights to an absolute height of 19m or 15m if a developer won planning approval to go higher.
Mr Black asked the council to adopt a holding pattern to allow time to study the graduated building heights. Senior planner David Needham, of Harrison Grierson Consultants, said the proposed height changes had only been released recently and may or may not have merit. The difficulty was that the community had not had the opportunity to comment on them with sufficient detail.
He was appearing for the Eleven Maunganui Rd apartment complex.
Submissions were expected to continue today.