Long Bay housing plan given polish by developer

Many want this land at Long Bay retained as parkland, but a developer wants it for housing. Picture / Greg Bowker

Plans to build houses on the rural backdrop to Long Bay Regional Park have been refined by developer Landco, in an attempt to improve views of the Hauraki Gulf and protect sacred Maori sites.

Sea views are featured on Landco's website where it says it aims to create "New Zealand's premier urban community" on the hilly 335ha.

But the company's structure plan - housing 7740 people - was rejected in June by commissioners of the North Shore City Council, which proposes its own structure plan supporting 4500 to 5000 people.

The company is appealing to the Environment Court to favour its plans instead but has strong opposition from the city council, the Auckland Regional Council and people demanding the block be left as countryside and merged with the regional park.

After a pretrial conference of the court case parties yesterday, the company told the Herald that it had used the months since the commissioners' hearing to "update" its plan.

"It's a significant area and is the largest area of greenfields land available on the North Shore," said Landco general manager land development Andrew Stringer.

He said the company had brought in as lead urban designer San Francisco-based James Lord, whose work includes the Sydney Olympic Village and in Auckland, the Highbrook business park.

The resulting site layout, said Mr Stringer, would give people a clear view of the coastal headlands and the gulf islands and, for park users, would soften the impact of development adjacent to the park.

He said the fresh plan did not mean fewer homes and apartments.

But the company realised that to succeed any plan must be environmentally feasible as well as commercially rewarding.

In addition to the intrusion of buildings, people are concerned about the effects of earthworks on unstable hillsides. Sediment and stormwater runoff to streams and the marine reserve and protection of Maori sacred sites were heard by the commissioners.

Mr Stringer said submitters' concerns were taken into account.

Work was done on ground conditions and these investigations endorsed the company's thinking on the scale of development that could be supported.

Iwi were being consulted on view shafts to the headlands and islands, increasing green open spaces, and identifying archaeological sites.

Landco's appeal is to be heard by the court next June.