Southern Cross Hospitals' Epsom site, about to be expanded. Photo / Supplied
Southern Cross Hospitals' Epsom site, about to be expanded. Photo / Supplied
New Zealand’s biggest independent healthcare network has won costs in a case where neighbours opposed it knocking down or removing several houses to expand its Epsom base.
Southern Cross Healthcare won a costs application against Eden Epsom Residential Protection Society Inc and Auckland Council.
The health giant owns and operatesthe Brightside Hospital, 3 Brightside Rd, Epsom and also owns three adjacent properties at 149, 151 and 153 Gillies Ave.
It has been successful in having its private plan change application referred back to the Environment Court to reconsider the original decision not to grant that.
Justice Neil Campbell in the High Court at Auckland issued a judgement last Wednesday in the case also involving Kāinga Ora Homes and Communities and the Tūpuna Maunga O Tāmaki Makaurau Authority as section 301 parties under the Resource Management Act, which covers rights to be heard and appeal decisions.
Southern Cross is entitled to get $19,000 from the first two respondents: the society and council.
This month’s decision followed an April 27 High Court ruling in which Southern Cross won its appeal against aspects of an Environment Court decision in the case. The judge, therefore, ruled it was entitled to costs because it had won.
But the parties couldn’t agree on costs, Justice Campbell said.
Residents in the area strongly opposed Southern Cross Hospitals' Epsom expansion. Photo / Supplied
The case now returns to the Environment Court.
The society and council argued the proceeding concerned a matter of public interest and they acted reasonably. The judge said the case was about a private plan change where Southern Cross wanted to rezone four properties it owns in Epsom.
This essentially affected its private interest in those properties, this month’s ruling said.
In 2020, the Herald reported how Southern Cross had won a hotly contested plan change application from independent hearing commissioners appointed by the council to rezone the sites of three homes on Gillies Ave and one home on Brightside Rd to expand its Brightside private hospital.
Two of the Gillies Ave homes were built before 1940 and have special character status.
Commissioners Kitt Littlejohn, Kim Hardy, Ian Munro and Mark Farnsworth allowed the plan change to go ahead with modifications. Southern Cross is allowed to rezone 149, 151 and 153 Gillies Ave from single house zone to special purpose healthcare facility and hospital zone. Homes at 149, 151 and 153 Gillies Ave are also now removed from the special character areas overlay.
The protection society opposed the appeal but the April ruling went against it. The council opposed the appeal on alleged errors of law. Kāinga Ora Homes and Communities supported the appeal. Tūpuna Maunga O Tāmaki Makaurau Authority did not wish to make submissions on the appeal.
The development proposal resulted in strong feedback three years ago. Of 176 submissions made then, 174 opposed the expansion for negative effects on the residential area and its special character, building dominance, loss of privacy, shading, problems with parking, safety and congestion, construction effects with danger to traffic, noise nuisance and vibration due to a significant quantity of rock excavated to create a hospital basement.
“Other arguments in opposition to the plan change included that Southern Cross Hospitals was obliged to consider alternative sites for its proposed hospital expansion and had not, therefore the proposal must fail,” the decision issued by commissioners in 2020 said.
But Southern Cross said it had looked at other sites and reached the conclusion Brightside was best for expansion. Southern Cross told commissioners that of its three central Auckland hospitals, Brightside had the least constraints on expansion.
Developing surrounding sites would enable the number of elective surgeries able to be performed in Epsom to be doubled to about 8000 a year and a new intensive care unit to be developed, it said.
The commissioners decided a hospital activity of the scale enabled by the plan change would not be incompatible with the local environment, subject to suitable controls on the design of new buildings on the site. Even though the plans had the potential to adversely affect immediately adjacent neighbours, that could be addressed through further modifications, they said.
“Overall, we are satisfied that a hospital building at the permitted scale allowed under the plan change can be designed to achieve compatibility in its neighbourhood,” they said in 2020.
Southern Cross Healthcare, previously known as Southern Cross Hospitals, is the largest private healthcare network in New Zealand.
“In the 2022 financial year, we provided elective surgery to over 80,000 patients at our wholly owned and joint venture hospitals. In addition, our joint venture partnerships in rehabilitation, physiotherapy, mental health and workplace health services further support the health outcomes of New Zealanders,” it says.
Anne Gibson has been the Herald’s property editor for 23 years, having won many awards, written books and covered property extensively here and overseas.
