The view from the young homeowner's house. Photo / Supplied
The view from the young homeowner's house. Photo / Supplied
A 20-year-old Auckland mother and her partner have bought a new house thinking a creche would be built directly opposite when in fact the land became a vast new regional bus hub.
The office worker with a new baby said she and her partner were told when they looked attheir prospective new Westgate home that childcare was planned right opposite.
Instead, a bus depot was built there. However, a creche is also under construction but not on the site the buyers thought.
Pavlovich Coachlines says its new northwest Auckland terminal was more than three years in the planning, and was crucial to its operations. A creche is being built right next door and would open soon.
The new multi-million dollar depot has delighted others in the area who have welcomed it as key infrastructure in the expanding public and private transport service industry.
But the townhouse buyer says she doesn’t want to look out on up to 100 buses on the 1.2ha lot where she hoped childcare would rise and which she planned to use for her own baby when he’s old enough.
She had paid a deposit on a new northwest Auckland townhouse at on Fred Taylor Dr but now wants her deposit back. Settlement is due once code compliance has been granted. Then the full $720,000 will be due on the two-bedroom townhouse.
“It was bare land when we went to visit but now it’s lines of buses with a big fence around it,” she complained.
Her new place is on the corner of Fred Taylor Dr and Matakohe Rd in a group of townhouses. The coach line depot faces Fred Taylor Dr but is accessed from Pua St.
“We were 20 and 21 when we went unconditional on our first home in June. All our savings went into it. We worked really hard to get into a home. We were proud, excited and trusted the process,” the woman said, asking not to be named due to her employment role which she said was sensitive.
The couple now has a two-month-old baby and paid a $72,000 deposit in June. They have sought legal help to attempt to recover their deposit and escape the contract.
Pavlovich Coachlines were three years going through the process, planning the new depot. Photo / supplied
One property expert said the couple were ill-informed and should have discovered the land opposite them was zoned business - light industry zone. Pavlovich buses were legally using the land, he said.
“In the range of things that could be there, there could be some uses that would create even more negative or reverse sensitivity issues than a bus station. It could be a reasonably busy industrial or manufacturing plant of some description,” he said.
Aucklanders’ days of looking out onto green areas and businesses being distant were long gone, he said - particularly where townhouse-zoned land was directly across the road from light industry.
Pavlovich Coachlines said it had been looking for a home for its buses for a long time and the station had only opened recently.
“It’s a purpose-built home for buses with a washer, workshop and offices,” the property expert said.
In September, it was reported Pavlovich Coachlines had officially opened its new Westgate bus depot.
Former-mayor Phil Goff joined company chief executive Bernard Pavlovich and the team to cut the opening day ribbon.
The 12,000sq m site was strategically located 1.4km from the planned terminus of the northwest interim busway under construction, Pavlovich said at the time.
The new terminal was more than three years in planning and construction. and provided housing for more than 100 buses and coaches and all associated services.
Bernard Pavlovich said not only was the bus terminal there but a creche was indeed rising, just as the first homeowner had been told.
“There will be a creche there as well. It’s nearly finished. We surround a creche. We’re 1-5 Pua St and the creche is at 3 Pua St. It hasn’t opened yet so you might not know it unless you knew it,” Bernard Pavlovich said.
“Our site’s a leased site. It’s been right through the wringer when it comes to consenting. It’s a bit of a shame people have a negative attitude,” he said of the new neighbour.
The company had shifted in around August 28 and operating successfully from its big new site.
A new bus depot for Pavlovich Coachlines is off Fred Taylor Dr, Westgate. Photo / Alanah Eriksen
Electric buses were coming in bigger numbers and would be quieter, Pavlovich said.
He offered an olive branch: “She could start by coming over and having a cup of tea with me one day,” he said of the unhappy neighbour.
“She would realise there’s nothing to fear. It would be better than having a concrete crushing plant or a drug house,” he said of other possible uses of the land.
About 100 buses were able to be parked on the site, he said, and that was important to the business.
The title shows the land is owned by Northbridge Property Holdings. The consent had been lodged for the base some years ago, Pavlovich said.
Signature Developments’ name is on the title where the creche is rising. The development arm of that business has built a number of childcare centres.
“As a preferred supplier to the Ministry of Education for many years, Signature Developments has a wealth of experience in the early childhood arena. We are well attuned to the design and delivery of new centres across New Zealand,” that business says.
