Place of worship in consent stage

A 74-lot rural lifestyle development is under way near Kamo in Whangarei. Photo / John Stone

A Brethren "gospel hall" could spring up in a 74-lot residential subdivision in Whangarei, though the developer says plans for the place of worship would have to fit in with the overall "ambience".

Consultants on behalf of the Three Mile Gospel Hall Trust have applied for resource consent to build a 131 square metre worship hall in the "Karanui" development's recreation area, with parking for 17 cars. According to the consent application the gospel hall would cater for up to 50 people and will be used as a place for "prayer and praise" almost exclusively Sundays and Mondays.

Lots at the Karanui development at 390 Three Mile Bush Rd are being landscaped and sold. Developer Baz Reiher said the first 24-lot stage was already spoken for and he expected to sell stage 2 by mid-2016.

"The whole aspect is to have all people, all ages, and wide diversity and this is all part of that," he said of the Brethren plans.

"They've only asked for consent to see whether they can do it. Then they will present plans to me and it will be fitting in with our ambience as part of the deal. It will look like a small house and [will be] in the area where we have a tennis court and basketball court and will have a reserve behind it."

The 38-hectare development, about 4 kilometres west of Kamo, is bounded to the east and west by grazing land and to the south by the Pukenui Forest. The lots ranged from 1700sq m lifestyle blocks to larger lots of up to 3 hectares.

On November 11 Whangarei District Council denied a request from Mr Reiher for a $500,000 reduction in his development contributions in exchange for reserve land and facilities - including a network of walkways leading to he Pukenui Forest - which he said would be a "valuable public asset".

"I believe the council's probably not using the discretion it has the ability to use," Mr Reiher said. "I'm not being miserable, I've put an enormous amount of infrastructure in, outside the development as well as inside. The [Pukenui Forest] access is of huge amenity to Whangarei."

Councillors turned down the request on the basis that it could "set a precedent". A council report recommended that the request had been heard too late in the consenting process and that the assets in question were mainly for the Karanui community, not the general public. The council would already be responsible for the maintenance and renewal of the assets vested to it once the development was complete - "a fair exchange", the report said.

Mr Reiher said he was disappointed in the decision and was not sure at this stage whether it would influence his plans.