Two Whanganui streets can be further developed after historic building restrictions scrapped

Building restrictions were put in place on Hattrick Street West in 1966. Photo / Bevan Conley.

Building restrictions from the 1950s and 1960s have been lifted to allow development along two Whanganui streets.

Construction was not allowed within a certain distance of the road on parts of Hatrick St West and Springvale Rd, council transport manager Damien Wood said.

His report to council said there were valid reasons for the restrictions in the past but they were now anomalies.

Springvale Rd was anticipated to be a main highway and the road on Hatrick St West was narrow.

Wood’s report said restrictions were imposed on two subdivisions on the northeastern side of Springvale Road in the 1950s.

“The restriction, now, appears to apply to the titles of approximately 10 properties. The easternmost of these properties is 16 Springvale Road.”

The owners of 16 Springvale Road had submitted a subdivision application, the report said.

On Hatrick St West, the owners of number 31 wished to build within the restriction.

The report said the restriction there came into effect in 1966, although “sometime in the more recent past” it had been removed from properties that were now numbered 21, 23 and 25.

The restrictions have now been lifted on the entire street.

Council chief executive David Langford said it was an additional control - “over and above what is in the district plan”.

“It was put there to protect council’s interests for a potential road widening project.

“The roading team is now saying it’s superfluous.

“We would consider it low-risk. The community is asking for it because the current additional control is stifling development.”

Councillor Jenny Duncan said concerns about the restrictions had been going on “for quite a number of months”.

She believed one potential project might not go ahead because of the time it had taken to resolve the issue.

“This seemed like quite a simple thing - something from the past that needed to be rectified,” she said.

“Why do they have to take so long, to the extent a developer walks away from a project?”

Langford said it would be better to make commentary on the council’s timeliness and performance when the meeting was offline to the public.

Councillor Peter Oskam asked if there were any other historic restrictions waiting to be removed in Whanganui.

Langford said that question couldn’t be answered with any certainty until a bit of research had been done.

Mike Tweed is an assistant news director and multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present his focus is local government, primarily the Whanganui District Council.