Northern Advocate
  • Northern Advocate home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Sport
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings

Locations

  • Far North
  • Kaitaia
  • Kaikohe
  • Bay of Islands
  • Whangārei
  • Kaipara
  • Mangawhai
  • Dargaville

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Kaitaia
  • Whangārei
  • Dargaville

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Northern Advocate

Lower Northland set to boom with 30,000 new homes possible

Susan Botting
By Susan Botting
Local Democracy Reporter·Northern Advocate·
8 Jun, 2020 05:00 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Maungaturoto, in the heart of the Kaipara District, could boom with another 7230 homes possible for the township and surrounds over the next 30 years.

Maungaturoto, in the heart of the Kaipara District, could boom with another 7230 homes possible for the township and surrounds over the next 30 years.

Lower Northland is set to boom over the next 30 years, with almost 30,000 new home sites identified for towns and their surrounds in Kaipara.

The home sites are signalled for the mainly rural area in the newly adopted Kaipara District Council spatial plan - the district's first.

The housing growth is identified for urbanisation on more than 1000ha of rural Kaipara land. The use of this rural land also includes industrial, commercial and mixed commercial/residential expansion with about 14,000 new lots.

The Kaipara Spatial Plan – Key Urban Areas – Dargaville, Maungaturoto and Kaiwaka is aimed at managing and attracting growth over the next 30 years.

If the plan eventuates it will see each town boom. In the 2018 Census Dargaville's population was 4794, Kaiwaka's was 2139 and Maungaturoto's almost 1300.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The spatial plan identifies low, mid and high growth scenarios for uptake on 28,700 house lots. It has been put together through working closely with the community including mana whenua, papakainga housing among its considerations.

"Kaipara District Council has never undertaken planning of this size, shape and scale before," said the mayor, Dr Jason Smith.

Kaipara mayor Jason Smith says the council is undertaking its largest ever planning exercise that could see almost 30,000 new homes built in the district.
Kaipara mayor Jason Smith says the council is undertaking its largest ever planning exercise that could see almost 30,000 new homes built in the district.

New Zealand local authorities are newly required to develop spatial plans under the Government's National Policy Statement on Urban Development Capacity 2016, to guide and provide for growth.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

District planner Paul Waanders said housing densities identified in the new plan are at levels never before seen in Kaipara's urban areas.

The draft spatial plan for Mangawhai, one of New Zealand's fastest-growing centres, is to go out for consultation now New Zealand is in Covid-19 restriction level 1. Another major spatial plan for 17 smaller Kaipara settlements is also under way, housing growth part of its consideration.

The welcome signs are out at Dargaville, Kaiwaka and Maungaturoto with up to 28,700 potential new house lots identified for the towns and their surrounds over the next 30 years.
The welcome signs are out at Dargaville, Kaiwaka and Maungaturoto with up to 28,700 potential new house lots identified for the towns and their surrounds over the next 30 years.

The newly adopted Dargaville, Maungaturoto and Kaiwaka plan shows 14,900 of the new identified house lots for about 1130ha of rezoned existing rural land - almost 7000 in Dargaville, 5600 in Maungaturoto and 2400 for Kaiwaka.

More homes are also identified on top of this, for rezoned current residential land, with 13,800 dwellings – Dargaville 11,700 and Maungaturoto 1630.

Discover more

Mangawhai ratepayer told to pay $115,000, faces losing house

18 May 06:00 PM

Mangawhai resident pays up after 10-year battle with council

22 May 07:00 PM

Being a tourist in your own country: Northland's first long weekend since lockdown

29 May 05:00 PM

Jobseeker benefit numbers in Northland skyrocket

29 May 05:00 PM

Other residential intensification is also earmarked - for current commercial land in Dargaville and Maungaturoto town centres, rezoning for mixed-density residential, retail and offices with buildings potentially up to three storeys tall.

The welcome signs are out at Dargaville, Kaiwaka and Maungaturoto with up to 28,700 potential new house lots identified for the towns and their surrounds over the next 30 years.
The welcome signs are out at Dargaville, Kaiwaka and Maungaturoto with up to 28,700 potential new house lots identified for the towns and their surrounds over the next 30 years.

About 3500 of the centres' new homes on rezoned rural land are earmarked for high-density development - town houses, terrace houses and retirement villages typical with a minimum 300sq m lot size.

About 8200 are in medium-density zones (minimum 500sq m lot size). About 3200 are in low-density zones (minimum 750sq m lot size).

Maungaturoto, with its 1300 residents, has emerged as a major urban growth area. The town's footprint looks set to treble. About 7200 new houses are identified - 5600 on existing rural land, 1600 of these high density. Further intensification comes via rezoning existing residential areas with 1630 house lots, including high and medium densities.

Other housing in rezoned commercial centre intensification adds to these numbers. The town offers major opportunity to become a Maungaturoto-based Auckland commuting hub, its existing direct rail link on the North Auckland rail line (currently freight only) spatial planning reveals.

The welcome signs are out at Dargaville, Kaiwaka and Maungaturoto with up to 28,700 potential new house lots identified for the towns and their surrounds over the next 30 years.
The welcome signs are out at Dargaville, Kaiwaka and Maungaturoto with up to 28,700 potential new house lots identified for the towns and their surrounds over the next 30 years.

Major urbanisation is also identified for Kaiwaka with 2700 new house lots for the town. About 200ha of rural land are identified for new housing, along with intensification of existing residential areas.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The town's position on Northland's pending four-laned Auckland to Whangārei highway corridor is a key growth influence. Significant urban growth is expected along this route.

Kaiwaka-based Auckland rail commuters could be serviced by a northern Topuni railway stopping point about 2km south of the town, alongside what's currently State Highway 1, according to the plan.

New Kaiwaka SH1 traffic lights have been suggested plus a main highway pedestrian underpass to improve safety and better link the town. There's also a new 10.5ha town centre.

Kaiwaka's population has been forecast to grow to about 5000.

In Dargaville, about 18,700 new homes are identified for 600ha – about 11,700 via infill intensification of existing residential areas and almost 7000 from rezoned rural land.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Northern Advocate

Northern Advocate

Our top Premium stories this year: Special offer for Herald, Viva, Listener

19 Jun 01:59 AM
Northern Advocate

'Sobering' downturn: Bay of Islands cruise bookings nearly halve

19 Jun 12:16 AM
Northern Advocate

Environment Court approves 115-lot rural subdivision near Kerikeri

18 Jun 05:00 PM

Jono and Ben brew up a tea-fuelled adventure in Sri Lanka

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Northern Advocate

Our top Premium stories this year: Special offer for Herald, Viva, Listener

Our top Premium stories this year: Special offer for Herald, Viva, Listener

19 Jun 01:59 AM

School rankings, property deals, gangs, All Black line-ups, and restaurant reviews.

'Sobering' downturn: Bay of Islands cruise bookings nearly halve

'Sobering' downturn: Bay of Islands cruise bookings nearly halve

19 Jun 12:16 AM
Environment Court approves 115-lot rural subdivision near Kerikeri

Environment Court approves 115-lot rural subdivision near Kerikeri

18 Jun 05:00 PM
Premium
Bay News: Five-year journey to chronicle maritime history; fishing comp a success

Bay News: Five-year journey to chronicle maritime history; fishing comp a success

18 Jun 05:00 PM
Help for those helping hardest-hit
sponsored

Help for those helping hardest-hit

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • The Northern Advocate e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Northern Advocate
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The Northern Advocate
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP