220-unit development rejected

By WAYNE THOMPSON

A plan to bring apartment living to Snells Beach has been rejected by planning commissioners, who say it would clash with the low-key homes of the Rodney settlement.

The decision on the biggest development so far for the village was greeted with relief by the 80 residents who opposed the cutting-up of lifestyle blocks and vineyards to the north of their homes.

Developer Kawau Holdings declined to comment on whether it would appeal to the Environment Court.

Last month, the company made a peace offering by slashing its proposal from 270 units to 220, including townhouses and three-storey apartments, for a 16.3ha site at the northern end of Snells Beach.

It planned to create four separate neighbourhoods on sunny terraces sloping down to a sandy beach and offering views out to Kawau Island.

The developers said the market wanted higher-density housing than Snells Beach section sizes of 500sq m to 1000sq m allowed.

Recently, a home one row back from the water fetched $850,000.

Commissioners from the Rodney District Council and Auckland Regional Council said the proposal was contrary to the character of Snells Beach.

Resource consents were refused on several counts, including:

* A development of such a large scale would have adverse visual effects on the landscape.

* The building density sought far exceeded that provided for by the district plan.

* The town's sewerage system and water supply could not cope with the extra load.

* The Regional Growth Strategy was being compromised because it did not anticipate some of the land being developed for a further 15 years.

* The development would swallow the area's planned future higher density quota in one bite.

A district council plan provides for an extra 2400 homes in the Sandspit, Snells Beach and Algies Bay areas in the next 20 years to cater for population growth from 3500 to 9200.

Real estate agents say the pressure for growth is on in coastal settlements such as Snells Beach.

Further improvements to State Highway 1 will bring the settlement to within 40 minutes' drive of Albany on the North Shore.

Resident Keith Stratton said people from a dozen of the 200 households were already commuting to the North Shore for work.

Growth was being seized upon by The Warehouse, which was building a store on the western side of the village's main road ridge.

Mr Stratton said he opposed the plan because it involved a private road that closed off the northern end of the beach to the public.