Housing proposal next to Hastings Golf Club hits hurdle

The proposed layout of new homes next to Hastings Golf Club. The aerodrome is above the course. Photo / HDC

A proposal for 170 homes to be built next to Hastings Golf Club in Bridge Pa has hit a hurdle, with a fresh report recommending it be declined.

That report was going to be taken on board by a hearing panel later this month, tasked with deciding whether to approve or decline the rezoning application.

However, that hearing has now been postponed and a new date has yet to be confirmed.

One of the major concerns raised in the report is “reverse sensitivity” – meaning the potential impact the residential development could have on the long-term future of the neighbouring Hastings Aerodrome.

The proposed housing project would be built on the eastern side of the golf course, on land owned by Hastings Golf Club Inc.

The aerodrome is on the western side of the course.

A map of the wider area. Photo / HDC

As well as plans for 170 homes, the group behind the proposal wants to upgrade the golf course and facilities and add visitor accommodation to boost golf tourism in the region.

Golf Sport Development Limited Partnership is leading the proposal.

The plans were revealed in 2021 – with majority support from the golf club’s members – and have been in the planning stages since.

In 2023, a rezoning application (private plan change request for the District Plan) was lodged with Hastings District Council (HDC) to rezone 82 hectares of land around the wider golf course.

That rezoning process is an important step for the housing project to move ahead in future.

An independent hearing panel has been commissioned by HDC to decide whether to approve the application, after 100 public submissions were made earlier this year.

The proposal featured numerous reports including a noise report.

That report concluded “there are unlikely to be any significant reverse sensitivity effects from the proposed development”.

“The accommodation is located well outside the aerodrome outer control boundary ... ensuring that Bridge Pā Aerodrome can develop without unreasonable restrictions on aircraft movements.”

However, experienced planning consultant Rowena Macdonald, from Sage Planning, concluded otherwise.

In her report, to assist the hearing panel, she recommended the application be declined.

That report highlighted particular concern about “reverse sensitivity and safety risks” for the aerodrome.

“[That includes] potential sleep awakening effects and annoyance due to aircraft overflights from engine testing noise and night-time helicopter overflights in particular.”

In terms of safety, she highlighted a “risk from development under an active flight path and a reduction in landing options in the event of engine failure while using runways 11/29″.

The aerodrome has been in operation since 1932 and hosts 40,000 aircraft movements annually, as well as 54 hangar buildings which house about 100 aircraft.

“Of the 55 submitters that made submission points referring to implications of [the housing proposal] on the Hastings/Bridge Pā Aerodrome, 54 of them consider [it] would have a detrimental impact on the safety and operations of the aerodrome,” her report read.

She also raised concerns about adverse effects on “the wider Heretaunga Plains versatile land resource”, incompatibility with horticultural and agricultural activities in the vicinity and, in her view, not satisfying parts of the Resource Management Act (RMA).

“[However] any conclusions reached or recommendations made in this report are not binding on the hearing panel,” her report added.

The group behind the proposal requested the hearing be suspended until the Government makes proposed changes to the RMA.