Far North residents oppose new medical centre despite ‘huge demand’ for services

Residents are outraged that plans for the medical centre could go ahead despite breaching numerous district plan rules.

An Auckland couple is rethinking calling Kerikeri home, as they and other Far North residents stand opposed to a new medical centre in the town.

Residents are outraged that the medical centre could go ahead despite breaching numerous district plan rules.

Opponents include an Auckland couple, who are now reconsidering moving to Kerikeri.

But Far North Deputy Mayor Kelly Stratford said there is a “huge demand” for medical facilities in the area, with some existing medical centres having closed off to patients, forcing residents to drive to Whangārei and beyond for treatment.

A resource consent application is currently lodged for the construction and operation of the medical centre, which includes a chemist, cafe and retail area, on SH10 next to Redwoods Cafe.

Far North District Council [FNDC] said the site is located within a rural production zone and “an operation of this type” would be outside operative district plan rules.

This means it would breach a number of rules in relation to stormwater management, setback from boundaries, building coverage and scale of activities, traffic intensity and car park spaces.

Aucklanders Whitney Geary and her partner Corey Nock are among those opposed to the development.

Geary, a registered architect, said the centre is “breaching so many district plan conditions and is affecting our lives”.

The couple planned to build a house on land they own near the site, with the intention of living in Kerikeri in future.

They are now “wondering whether to go ahead”.

“When we saw the plans being built right on our driveway we thought this is going to be horrible, we don’t want to live there,” Geary said.

“We truly want the medical centre to happen... but we’re against poor design and cheap building that’s adversely affecting so many people,” Nock said.

The proposed centre will have a state-of-the-art imaging centre, physiotherapy and specialist consulting rooms, a skin clinic, an independent midwife, and eight doctors.

The building site is next to Redwoods Garden Centre and Café, Highway Vets, and Northland Hearing Clinic.

FNDC notified the affected parties on April 18 last year, and five submissions were received.

The five submitters voiced their concerns at a hearing undertaken by an independent commissioner on March 6.

FNDC delivery and operations group manager Kevin Johnson said the application is currently with the independent commissioner, with a decision on the resource consent yet to be made.

The developer didn’t wish to comment.

Far North Deputy Mayor Kelly Stratford said there is a huge demand for medical facilities in the area.

William Bingham, who lives behind the proposed centre, said the 2385m2 building would be “within five metres of my boundary”.

“The whole development is too much.

“He’s [the land owner] building it on the entire footprint of the land.

“The amount of traffic that’s going to entail is bad enough as it is.

“The road [SH10] is deadly; in the time we’ve been here there’s been seven or eight accidents and one death.”

GPs have told the Advocate Northland’s general practices are beyond crisis point due to a lack of Government funding, high-needs population and other doctors retiring or quitting.

A resource consent application is lodged for the construction of a medical centre which includes a chemist, cafe and retail area, on SH10 next to Redwoods Cafe. Photo / Jenny Ling

Thousands of patients can’t enrol with a local general practice, and lengthy drives and overnight trips to get to specialist appointments in Whangārei and Auckland put a strain on many Far North families.

In March, Coast to Coast Health Care in Wellsford withdrew its overnight services because of chronic underfunding, an ageing workforce and compromised doctor safety.

Stratford said new medical facilities would be “a substantial benefit” for residents in Kerikeri and surrounding areas.

“There’s been a huge demand for medical facilities.

“I understand this is someone in the medical profession looking to develop this.

“We all know we need more medical facilities and we need to offer people state-of-the-art facilities so people will be enticed to come and work in our district.”

Geary and Nock said they are worried about traffic congestion, as six properties share the driveway via an easement.

The development would also breach car parking numbers; the district plan states 180 would be needed, whereas only 130 will be provided, they said.

“All the people using the medical centre and the cafe are going to be using our right-of-way.

“It equates to 953 extra traffic movements per day coming out of the same driveway with no road widening and just a median strip in the middle.

“All we want from this, is for them to do the right thing... to stick to the district plan rules.”

Jenny Ling is a news reporter and features writer for the Northern Advocate. She has a special interest in covering roading, lifestyle, business, and animal welfare issues.